For planning to block a motorway encircling London, five Just Stop Oil activists were recently sentenced to a minimum of four years in prison.

Just Stop Oil wants to end the extraction and burning of coal, oil and gas in the UK by 2030. The group’s demands are consistent with what scientists have said is necessary to limit climate change. The same scientific advice underpins international agreements the UK has signed.

Just Stop Oil’s methods, which include stopping traffic by sitting on roads, are also peaceful. So why are its members facing a long stretch behind bars?

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Such a severe sentence for non-violent protest has “no equivalent in modern times” according to Graeme Hayes and Steven Cammiss. Hayes is a reader in political sociology at Aston University while Cammiss teaches law at the University of Birmingham. Both have sat in on several high-profile climate protest cases.

“Nobody should be surprised,” they say. “These sentences are a logical outcome of Britain’s authoritarian turn against protest over the past five years”.

Read more: Just Stop Oil's harsh sentences are the logical outcome of Britain's authoritarian turn against protest

Protesters facing prosecution in England and Wales were once partially........

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