a british judge has dropped charges against Greta Thunberg and other environmentalists for public disorder during a demonstration against fossil fuels in which They were arrestedconsidering that the Police then applied “illegal” conditions when making the arrests.

The Swedish activist, 21, and the other four defendants appeared this Friday for the second consecutive day before Westminster Magistrates’ Court following their involvement in a protest held on October 17 in front of a central London hotel, where a forum of senior executives from energy corporations was taking place.

In issuing his opinion, Judge John Law has found “deficiencies” in agent communications when dealing with activists and has considered that the police “imposed unreasonable measures” so that environmentalists could comply with police instructions.

“It is clear to me that the conditions were imposed unnecessarily“said the magistrate, who provoked loud applause and cheers from family and friends who were following the case from the public gallery when he declared that he was withdrawing the charges. The accused faced financial penalties of 2,500 pounds each ( about 2,900 euros).

After listening to the testimonies of officers from the London Metropolitan Police (Met) who managed the security operation during the demonstration and the arguments put forward by the Prosecutor’s lawyer, Luke Staton, Law has opted for the dropping the charges “because they are so unclear that they are illegalAccording to the judge, any of the activists “who did not comply with police conditions were not committing any crime” due to the lack of clarity with which those guidelines were issued.

“It seems to me quite striking that there were no witnesses by anyone inside the hotel, where there were about 1,000 people, or by anyone trying to enter; nor evidence of vehicles (…) nor evidence that interference occurred in the emergency services,” he said. Thunberg he had already pleaded not guilty of breaking Section 14 of the Public Order Act along with the other activists.

The arguments of the defense and the prosecution

During the hearing, the judge listened to the arguments of the defense, which maintained that the evidence provided “is not clear”, since the agents were not specific in their “communications” with the protesting activists when telling them exactly what to do and where to go. In this sense, the lawyer Rad Chada has argued that they did not give enough time to leave the area, so the protesters “They did not know and could not know what they could or could not do.“.

On the other hand, lawyer Luke Staton, from the Prosecutor’s Office, has maintained that “there is evidence that indicates that the accused are guilty” of causing public disorder. To justify the arrests, which the defense has called “disproportionate”, Staton has argued that the Police “genuinely believed that a serious disturbance had occurred in the community.”

The lawyer said that inside the hotel, whose access was blocked by the activists, “there were about 1,000 people, including guests and delegates.” [del foro energético]”The arrests were also carried out after the agents tried “other tactics that were not successful” to clear the demonstration, he said.

Although he noted that “the legislation is clear” and determines that sufficient time must be given to comply with police instructions before making arrests, “the activists made it very clear that they were going to stay where they were,” when they were asked to leave. of the place, he added.

The activist Maja Darlington, of Greenpeace, has considered in a statement that this Friday’s verdict is “a victory for the right to protest” and added that it is “ridiculous that more and more climate activists find themselves in court for peacefully exercising their right to demonstrate” while energy giants profit from selling fossil fuel.