Climate activist Greta Thunberg acquitted in disruption of London oil industry conference

LONDON —  Climate activist Greta Thunberg was acquitted Friday of refusing to follow a police order to leave a protest blocking the entrance to a major oil and gas industry conference in London last year.

The courtroom gallery erupted with applause as Judge John Law told Thunberg and her four co-defendants that they were cleared of the criminal charge of breaching the Public Order Act, citing “significant deficiencies in the evidence” presented by the prosecutor.

Law said that the police could have taken less restrictive measures and that their order to disperse was “so unclear that it was unlawful,” so those who didn’t comply committed no offense.

The judge also said he would grant defense lawyer Raj Chada’s request for the government to pay his legal fees and Thunberg’s travel costs to attend the trial.

“The conditions imposed on the protest were unclear, uncertain and unlawful,” Chada said outside court, adding that “the government should stop prosecuting peaceful protesters, and instead find ways to tackle the climate crisis.”

Thunberg, who has inspired a global youth movement demanding stronger efforts to fight climate change, had been charged with violating the act that allows police to impose limits on public assemblies. She had faced a fine of up to $3,190 if convicted.

The Swedish climate activist, 21, was among more than two dozen protesters arrested on Oct. 17 after preventing access to a hotel during the Energy Intelligence Forum, attended by some of the industry’s top executives.

She and other environmentalists accuse fossil fuel companies of deliberately slowing the global transition to renewable energy sources in order to make more profit. They also oppose the U.K.’s recent approval of oil drilling in the North Sea off Scotland.

Thunberg left the courthouse Friday without speaking to journalists. But when she left court Thursday, she said: “We must remember who the real enemy is. What are we defending? Who are our laws meant to protect?”

In court, Metropolitan Police Supt. Matthew Cox said he’d worked with protesters for hours before ordering for them to move to an adjacent street because he was concerned about the safety of those in the hotel.

“It seemed like a very deliberate attempt ... to prevent access to the hotel for most delegates and the guests,” he testified. “People were really restricted from having access to the hotel.”

Cox said protesters lighted colorful flares and drummers created a deafening din outside the hotel as some demonstrators sat on the ground and others rappelled from the roof of the hotel. When officers began arresting protesters, other demonstrators quickly took their places, leading to a “perpetual cycle” that found police running out of officers to make arrests.

But Judge Law said the protest had been “peaceful, civilized and nonviolent.”

“It is quite striking to me that there were no witness statements taken from anyone in the hotel, approximately 1,000 people, or from anyone trying to get in,” he said in his ruling, which at times drew laughter from the defendants. “There was no evidence of any vehicles being impeded, no evidence of any interference with emergency services, or any risk to life.”

Thunberg rose to prominence after protesting weekly outside the Swedish parliament starting in 2018.

Last summer, she was fined by a Swedish court for disobeying police and blocking traffic during an environmental protest at an oil facility. She had already been fined for the same offense previously in Sweden.