Extinction Rebellion activists arrive at the court in Lausanne to support their colleague (not pictured)
Keystone / Salvatore Di Nolfi
A climate activist from Extinction Rebellion (XR) has been given a three-year suspended prison sentence and fined CHF1,000 ($1,070) for taking part in protest events in Lausanne.
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The judge rejected the man’s freedom to demonstrate peacefully but without authorisation.
The trial of the 30-year-old man, co-founder of Lausanne Action Climat and XR Lausanne, was the first of a series of trials of around 200 climate activists who had carried out protest actions in Lausanne, canton Vaud, in 2019 and 2020. A dozen trials of around 60 defendants are planned by the end of the year.
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Climate activists found guilty of blocking road in western Switzerland
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Fifteen climate activists who blocked a main road in Neuchâtel in western Switzerland in March 2020 have been found guilty and fined.
The man had taken part in three protest actions – on a bridge, at a roundabout and at other intersections in the city centre – with the aim of blocking traffic. He was found guilty of obstructing services of general interest, obstructing an official act, violating traffic rules and violating police regulations, among other charges.
His lawyer said his client would appeal to the cantonal court. “We’re a little disappointed, but we weren’t under any illusions […] The issue of civil disobedience in the fight against global warming is blocked at the level of Swiss justice,” he said.
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Climate activists resume street protests
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An estimated 30,000 people have participated in street protests across Switzerland to demand concrete steps to reduce global warming.
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Climate activists block roads in Switzerland
Climate activists aligned with the Extinction Rebellion (XR) environmental movement created traffic disruptions on Saturday across Switzerland.
"I am terrified by the state's inaction in the ecological disaster," said a student in the Plainpalais district of Geneva, before his sign was confiscated by police
Calling their demonstration a ''Rebellion Of One,'' activists set up single-person roadblocks in about a dozen cities–including Geneva, Lausanne, Zurich, Bern–and smaller towns such as Morat.
The demonstrations come one month before citizens go to the polls to decide on a revised national CO2 law.
It is impossible to determine how many people staged such single acts of protests, according to Keystone-SDA news agency.
"As we are working in a decentralised way, each group is organising itself independently," an organiser in Zurich told the agency.
Angry motorists
In Geneva and Lausanne, several roads were blocked in the morning and afternoon by activists. Most of them were dislodged and fined by the police, sometimes after only a few minutes.
In Lausanne, one activist lasted five minutes before being taken away in handcuffs. Angry drivers and passersby dislodged another activist in the same city before police arrived
Among onlookers, reactions ranged from applause and support to annoyance and outright anger.
"What do we care about the climate? There are all the cars waiting", a young woman in Geneva complained. Another contested the notion of "ecological catastrophe".
Vulnerability
By sitting alone on the pavement, each activist wanted to show the vulnerability of individuals to global warming.
"Behind every activist there are emotions," said the one from Zurich. "Climate change did not go away with the pandemic"
Switzerland’s climate activists want the government to tackle climate change more quickly and to convene a citizens assembly on climate and ecological justice.
They want the Federal Council (executive body) to declare a climate emergency and make the country carbon neutral by 2025 rather than 2050.
XR activists held protests in Britain last week and plan further actions in cities across 10 countries until June.
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If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.