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Climate activist (symbolic image)

Photo: Markus Schreiber / AP

A court in Sweden has found a climate activist guilty of disobedience to the police – but did not impose a penalty on him, citing the "climate emergency". This is an acute emergency," the court in Stockholm said. Two out of four judges argued that the defendant had acted "with the aim" of averting a danger to society. The prosecutor's office said on Friday that it had not yet decided whether to appeal the case.

The effects of climate change are "already visible," Wednesday's ruling said. Against this background, the imposition of a penalty is "manifestly inappropriate".

The court thus followed the defendant's arguments. The 41-year-old had taken part in a climate protest action in the centre of the Swedish capital Stockholm in 2022. Climate activists had blocked traffic. The man admitted to taking part in the action, but pleaded not guilty because he had acted out of necessity due to the "ongoing climate emergency".

German judges see it quite differently

Courts in Germany have so far shown less understanding for the climate activists' arguments. Two courts have recently even decided to bring charges against members of the Last Generation for forming a criminal organization. In its decision, the Munich Regional Court wrote: The Last Generation fulfils the requirement of a criminal organization because it represents a long-term association of several hundred people – with the overarching common goal of enforcing its climate policy demands against the federal government through "civil disobedience". According to the court, the actions of the Last Generation posed a significant threat to public safety. Searches of suspects are proportionate.

Only lawyers from the Berlin Senate of Justice Administration have so far come to a different conclusion: the actions of the Last Generation are aimed at the greatest possible public attention and are "always carried out without any physical aggression". Their acts did not have the requisite significance of the offences in the sense of a significant threat to public security.

The actions of the climate activists are "both nerve-wracking and annoying". The suspicion that the activists formed a criminal organization was "difficult to comprehend" to the Berlin experts.

oka/AFP