Defend Our Juries march through the streets of Cambridge for the first time

The Defend Our Juries campaign arrived in central Cambridge this weekend with a march and protest outside the Guildhall in the market square, highlighting the prison sentences handed down to street protesters, including four years for the Grantchester teacher and Just supporter Stop Oil, Louise Lancaster.

The event was supported by Silent Rebellion, the regular Saturday meditators in the Christ’s Pieces area, and featured music from the Lefty Singers, a short play, plus a speech from Cambridge Defend Our Juries organizer Jenny Langley.

The Defend Our Juries group in the city has held four events outside Cambridge Crown Court on City Road since the introduction of the Public Order Act 2023, which introduced new crimes related to public protests, including blocking, tunneling, obstructing transport and interfering with infrastructure.

The first five activists to be jailed were found guilty of conspiracy to cause public nuisance in July, for coordinating direct action protests on the M25 over four days in November 2022.

The five included Cambridge student and Just Stop Oil activist Cressida Gethin and Louise Lancaster; both are serving four-year sentences.

At the trial at Southwark Crown Court in the summer, Judge Christopher Hehir ruled that the defendants were unable to give evidence about climate breakdown to the jury.

The removal of this right to explain the motivations for their action led Michel Forst, the UN special rapporteur on environmental defenders, who participated in part of the trial, to issue a statement at its conclusion, calling it “a dark day for protests peaceful environments” in the UNITED KINGDOM.

He added: “Decisions like today set a very dangerous precedent, not just for environmental protests, but for any form of peaceful protest that may, at one point or another, not align with the interests of the government of the day.”

He concluded: “How a sentence of this magnitude can be reasonable, proportionate or serve a legitimate public purpose is beyond comprehension.”

Saturday’s event began at Christ’s Pieces, then participants marched with signs and a drummer to the market square. After gathering outside the Guildhall at 1.30pm, The Lefty Singers launched into their repertoire, starting with the classic Legal Illegalfollowed by Speak truth to power, A beating heart and then Our house is on fire.

The singers were followed by Jenny Langley, who told the small crowd and shoppers that “40 people have been incarcerated in our prisons for trying to protect life, some to save nature and some to save people in Gaza, for a total of 40 Just Stop Oil and pro-Palestine.”

The first names of the 40 were read and repeated by the crowd that gathered around the protesters.

“These are all political prisoners,” Jenny said.

Next was a play featuring a visitor from King’s Lynn playing a judge who sentences the planet to death “because we don’t want anyone to be bothered”. One of the defendants was arrested because “he dared to disturb the weapons manufacturing industry, when we have the trade balance to take care of”.

A statement from Silent Rebellion said: “In these times it is essential that we protect the right of juries to hear the truth. This right is being eroded as judges prevent defendants from speaking about their reasons for acting. As a result, peaceful climate protesters are being sentenced to years in prison.”

The event ended after a procession through the city center.

A Home Office spokesperson said: “We recognize the democratic right that people should be free to peacefully express their views, but they must do so within the bounds of the law.”