In Britain, three environmental activists who took part in a protest in which Stonehenge was sprayed with orange powder have been found not guilty of criminal damage after citing human rights law in their defense.
The activists from the group Just Stop Oil had admitted to participating in the protest but cited their right to freedom of speech and protest.
Salisbury Crown Court — which lies less than 14 kilometers (8.5 miles) from Stonehenge — found Rajan Naidu, 74, Niamh Lynch, 23, and Luke Watson, 36, not guilty of criminal damage and public nuisance over the June 2024 protest.
The trio targeted Stonehenge as part of an ongoing Just Stop Oil protest against fossil fuels the day before last year’s summer solstice — when some 15,000 people were due to meet at the prehistoric megalithic structure on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England.
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Naidu and Lynch had sprayed the megalithic stones at the UNESCO World Heritage site with an orange powder, which did not cause any permanent damage.
What’s Just Stop Oil’s aim?
Just Stop Oil ended its protests earlier this year, saying it had achieved its initial objective of stopping the UK from approving new oil and gas projects.
Prosecutors said the demonstration at the site visited by millions of tourists every year and the world was an “act of blatant and clear vandalism.”
“I just want things to be better, I just want things to be fair and right,” Lynch said after the jury’s verdict.
Watson said he was “glad” about Friday’s outcome, but felt like their trial over “the last two weeks” was “a complete waste of public money.”
“It is a relief that the jury has decided to uphold the right to peaceful protest,” defense attorney Francesca Cociani said. “It is a right that has long been, and should remain, an essential pillar of our democratic society but we are seeing time and time again that this right is being eroded.”
Edited by: Sean Sinico
