Open Letter for Whole Truth Five

Dear Attorney General, Richard Hermer KC,

This week has seen one of the greatest injustices in a British court in modern history. On Thursday 18th July, five people were given the highest sentences for nonviolent protest this country has ever seen. They were on trial for holding a zoom call, calling on others to take action to raise the alarm about the greatest threat humanity has ever faced: the climate and nature crises.

These sentences were handed down just days after the new government’s policy of no new licensing for oil and gas infrastructure was announced. In a world of sound, evidence-based governance, none of this needed to happen. With prisons at breaking point and the new government acting urgently to address this, how can these sentences be seen as anything other than insanity? The sentences, ranging from 4 to 5 years, are higher than those given to many who commit serious sexual assault.

The defendants were denied the right to explain to a jury why they took the action they did, making a mockery of the right to a fair trial, with the judge saying that the Crown Prosecution’s agreed facts on climate collapse – including that the world has gone beyond 1.5 degrees for 12 consecutive months – were ‘neither here nor there’. These five brave, defiant people, like all nonviolent protestors, are fulfilling a necessary service by alerting the nation to the grave risk we all face, as scientists in their droves express their fear that many of the Earth’s systems are already at breaking point.

Immediately after the verdict, the UN’s special rapporteur on environmental defenders issued an extraordinary statement: ‘Today marks a dark day for peaceful environmental protest, the protection of environmental defenders and indeed anyone concerned with the exercise of their fundamental freedoms in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.’

According to the Office for National Statistics, 74% of people in the UK want urgent action on the climate crisis. Until a couple of weeks ago that majority was blocked by a Prime Minister who used climate – an existential threat – as a wedge issue in an election he lost. This new government has inherited a suite of recent legislation that conflicts with International Human Rights Law, and has put everyone’s right to peaceful protest at risk. The new government can address this now, as they have with fossil fuel licensing.

The world stands at a crossroads and so does our democracy. We write in support of Chris Packham and Dale Vince’s request for an urgent meeting with you, to be recorded so it is transparent to the public, to discuss the jailing of truth tellers and their silencing in court.

Sincerely, and with love for all humanity,

Rowan Williams – Former Archbishop of Canterbury

Juliet Stevenson – Actor

Chrissie Hynde – Musician

James Hansen – Climate Scientist

Ben Okri – Writer

Sandi Toksvig – Writer

Danny Boyle – Filmmaker

Brian Eno – Musician

Sir Jonathan Pryce – Actor

Peter Gabriel – Musician

Philip Pullman – Author

Greg Searle MBE – Olympic Gold Medallist – Rowing

Sir Geoffrey Bindman KC – Solicitor

Sir David King Chair – Climate Crisis Advisory Group (CCAG)

Annie Lennox – Singer

Mick Whelan – General Secretary of ASLEF Union

Clive Lewis MP

Peter Kalmus – NASA Climate Scientist

Jolyon Maugham KC – Director, Good Law Project

Eddie Dempsey – RMT Senior Assistant General Secretary

Legal

Dr Svitlana Romanko – Lawyer and Non Profit Director

Melinda Janki – Environmental Lawyer

Lord John Hendy KC – Barrister

Michael Mansfield KC – Barrister

Prof Bill Bowring – Emeritus Professor, Barrister

Liz Davies KC – Barrister

Gregg Taylor KC – Former Barrister

Guy Linley-Adams – Solicitor, Lecturer

Renata Avila – Human Rights Lawyer

Christina Eckes – Professor of European Law

Cultural

Chris Martin – Musician

Frankie Boyle – Comedian

Steve Coogan – Actor

Jarvis Cocker – Songwriter

Tracey Emin DBE – Artist

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall – Chef, Broadcaster

Es Devlin – Artist and Stage Designer

Adam McKay – Filmmaker

Toby Jones – Actor

Adam Buxton – Podcaster