A judge The British left this Friday London charges against Greta Thunberg and others ecologists for public disorder during manifestation against fossil fuel in which they were detained, given that police He then applied “illegal” conditions to his arrest.

The 21-year-old Swedish activist and four other defendants appeared in court for the second day in a row. Westminster Magistrates’ Court after his participation in a protest held on October 17 in front of a hotel in central London, where a forum of top managers of energy corporations was being held.

Delivering his ruling today, Judge John Lowe found “flaws” in police communication with activists and found police had “imposed unreasonable measures” to ensure environmentalists could follow police directions.

“It is clear to me that these conditions were imposed unnecessarily,” the judge said, drawing loud applause and applause from family and friends who watched the case from the public gallery when he announced he was dropping the charges.

Having listened to the testimony of the agents between yesterday and today London Metropolitan Police (Meeting) who led the special operation during the demonstration, and the arguments put forward by the lawyer Prosecutor’s office, Luke Staton, Law decided to drop the charges “because they are so unclear as to be unlawful.”

He said none of the activists “who did not comply with the police conditions committed any crimes” due to the lack of clarity with which these instructions were issued.

“It seems to me quite astonishing that there were no witnesses to anyone inside the hotel, where there were about a thousand people, or to anyone trying to enter; no evidence of vehicles (…), no evidence that there was interference with the work of emergency services,” he said.

Thunberg, along with other activists, has already pleaded not guilty to violating Section 14 of the Public Order Act.

During today’s hearing, the judge heard arguments from a team of defense lawyers who argued that the evidence presented was “unclear” because police did not specify their “communications” with activists protesting in front of the hotel. Intercontinental, V Mayfair, when it came to telling them exactly what they should do and where they should go.

You might be interested > Greta Thunberg’s trial for anti-oil protest begins in London

In this sense, Rad Chada’s lawyer argued that the police involved did not give them enough time to leave the area, so the protesters “did not know and could not know what they could or could not do.”

On the other hand, lawyer Luke Staton from the prosecutor’s office said that “there is evidence to suggest that the defendants are guilty” of causing public disorder.

To justify the arrests, which the defense called “disproportionate,” Staton recalled that police “genuinely believed that there was serious disorder in the community.”

The lawyer said that inside the hotel, to which access was blocked by activists, “there were about a thousand people, including guests and delegates (of the energy forum), who could not leave the country, and some had to catch planes.”

He said the arrests also came after officers tried “other tactics that were unsuccessful” to break up the demonstration.

While he noted that “the legislation is clear” and stipulates that police must be given sufficient time to comply with instructions before making arrests, “the activists made it very clear that they were going to remain in place” when they were asked to leave the area, he added. .

Activist Maya Darlington from Greenpeace, said in a statement that today’s verdict was a “victory for the right to protest” and added that it was “ridiculous that more and more climate activists “They were put on trial for peacefully exercising their right to demonstrate” while energy giants profit from the sale of fossil fuels.

The defendants faced financial penalties of £2,500 each (about €2,900).

(EFE)