Valencia, Spain - A Valencia court has acquitted 11 Greenpeace activists who faced criminal charges over a 2021 peaceful protest against a fossil gas shipment at the Port of Sagunto.[1] The Public Prosecutor's Office originally sought five years in prison for each activist, one of the harshest sentences ever demanded in Europe for peaceful environmental protest, before reducing its demand to two and a half years at trial. In today's judgment, the court rejected the charge of aggravated public disorder, finding the prosecution had failed to prove the activists engaged in any violence or intimidation that altered public peace.
Daniel Simons, Senior Legal Counsel Strategic Defence, Greenpeace International said: "This is a win for freedom of expression, and a rebuke to the attempt to repress peaceful climate activism. But an acquittal does not erase the years of anxiety, legal costs, and disruption to activists' lives. This charge never should have been brought in the first place. The only threat to public order here was Europe's continued reliance on fossil gas imports. We hope the prosecution does not appeal, and turns its attention towards those endangering, not defending life on this planet."
Throughout the proceedings, witnesses for both the prosecution and the defence - including law enforcement officers, maritime authorities and independent journalists - confirmed that the 2021 action was strictly peaceful and did not cause harm to people, property or general traffic in the port. The disproportionate and severe punishment sought by the prosecution drew the attention of several United Nations Special Rapporteurs, some of whom attended the trial as observers.
Gina Romero, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Rights to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and of Association, said: "The Sagunto case demonstrates how easily the legal system can be used to deter people from exercising a fundamental right, even when the law agrees in the end they did nothing wrong. It's part of a broader, global pattern of using the legal system, criminal charges, punitive fines, and restrictive laws to shrink civic space. I will continue to raise the alarm and raise my voice to ensure that peaceful protest is not treated as a crime - in Spain or anywhere else."
Ahead of the trial, Greenpeace Spain activists unveiled a giant, 530 square metre eye on the roof of Valencia's Hemisfèric building with banners that read "The world is watching" and "Activism is not a crime."
Jose Manuel Marraco, the Spanish attorney who defended the activists in court, said:
"I have been defending Greenpeace activists for 35 years, and it is an honour to do so. When people put themselves on the line to protect our planet, it is a generous act, not a criminal offence. The State should avoid the chilling effect that criminalisation and long-running proceedings have."
