Speaking ahead of the sentencing (on 12 June) of four young people convicted of criminal damage after a break-in at an arms factory in Bristol in August 2024, in which the judge has said there may be a ‘terrorist connection’ that was not revealed during the trial, Greenpeace UK’s co-executive director Areeba Hamid said:
“It’s disgraceful that four British citizens could be sentenced as ‘terrorists’ when they haven’t been charged or convicted of a terror offence. Laws and sentencing guidelines already exist to punish these offences – labelling them as terrorists is disproportionate and cynical.
“There’s a long tradition of brave people damaging property to prevent injustice and the killing of civilians – from the US nuclear warheads at Greenham Common to the fences that shut people out of the countryside near their homes. Their bravery has made us all safer and freer. The British justice system is respected the world over, but for how much longer?”