Concerns raised about peaceful protestors

The Hodge Jones & Allen protest team discussed the treatment of peaceful protestors with the UN Special Rapporteur on Environmental Defenders, Michel Forst, during recent meetings as part of his follow-up to January's visit to the UK. 

This ongoing dialogue involves various activists, lawyers, and NGOs, including well-known organisations such as Greenpeace UK and Amnesty International UK. During his earlier visit, Mr Forst highlighted the intertwined crises of climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution, emphasising that “environmental defenders were acting for the benefit of us all” and asserting the need to protect them from “persecution, penalisation or harassment”. Unfortunately, since that time, the UK has seen a troubling increase in measures against peaceful protest. 

The recent endorsement by the Court of Appeal of lengthy prison sentences for non-violent activists has raised alarm among advocacy groups. Raj Chada, head of criminal defence at Hodge Jones & Allen, articulated the necessity of voicing these concerns to international bodies, stating, “It is important that we put forward our concerns to an independent and properly mandated UN Special Rapporteur” while underscoring the seriousness of the situation by saying, “We remain concerned that the UK has one of the most oppressive frameworks to deal with environmental protestors in Europe.”