Protesters gathered this morning Thursday August 8 outside Reading Crown Court after five people were given the highest sentences for non-violent protest that this country has ever seen.

They were convicted at Southwark Crown Court on July 11 2024 for discussing plans to disrupt the M25 on a Zoom call. Roger Hallam received a sentence of five years, the others four years each.

Those people were student cressie Gethin (22), Daniel Shaw (38), Lou Lancaster (58,), Lucia Whittaker De Abreu (34,) and Roger Hallam (57).

The judge in the case denied the defendants a chance to explain why they took the action, prohibiting them from speaking about the climate crisis.

Yet the new law, Section 78 (3) of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022, states that it is a defence for a person charged with this offence to prove that they had a reasonable excuse for the act.

Supporters of the Whole Truth Five will be holding silent vigils outside Crown Courts nationwide as a protest against both the length of sentences the five campaigners were given and they're being denied the chance to explain their reasons.

Michael Forst, the UN Special Rapporteur, criticised the sentencing on X, calling it ‘a very dark day for fundamental human rights in the UK’.

Tom Southerden, Amnesty International UK’s Law and Human Rights Adviser, said: “These lengthy jail sentences for people seeking climate justice should increase the alarm over the ongoing crackdown against peaceful protest in this country, which violates all our human rights.” 

Hanna Hindstrom, Senior Investigator at Global Witness’ Land and Environmental Defenders Campaign said: “Worldwide, peaceful protesters are being unjustly silenced and imprisoned for trying to avert environmental catastrophe and urge decision-makers to act. The harsh sentences handed down today in the UK—a nation that prides itself on democratic freedoms—should alarm us all.”

More than 1,200 artists, athletes and academics have condemned the "injustice" of the sentences for non-violent protests. In a letter to the Attorney General, they called for an urgent meeting to discuss "the jailing of truth tellers and their silencing in court".

In a poll conducted by Social Change Lab, a think-tank researching the effectiveness of protest movements, 61% of respondents said they believed the sentences were too harsh. “We were really struck by the contradiction between the opinions of some in the media that people engaging in disruptive protests should be harshly punished, and what the public have told us,” said Markus Ostarek, director of research of Social Change Lab.

The sentences have put everyone’s right to peaceful protest at risk. In the last week, another five environmental protesters have received custodial sentences ranging from twenty months to two years for actions they took two years ago.

Around the country, on Thursday and Friday, supporters of fair – not draconian -  justice will be holding silent vigils outside Crown Courts, to express their solidarity with the Whole Truth Five.  Their placards will read ‘Stop Jailing Truth Tellers’. Journalists and photographers are very welcome to attend the event.