Vaud climate activist prefers prison to a fine
Published: Tuesday, Dec 12th 2023, 16:01
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A climate activist from Vaud has chosen to spend two months behind bars rather than pay a fine. Around 130 sympathizers accompanied him on his media-effective march to prison in Orbe VD on Tuesday.
"It's a militant act," the 30-year-old from Vaud told the Keystone-SDA news agency. "I'm using my body and having it locked up. It's not funny, but it's a way of talking about the climate crisis and repeating that CO2 emissions are continuing to rise and that nothing is happening at a political level," said the activist.
According to Renovate Switzerland, of which the man is a co-founder, this is the first time in Switzerland that a climate activist has been jailed for an act of civil disobedience. In 2021, he filmed an action in Lausanne in which two fellow campaigners taped the IPCC climate report to the walls of the cathedral and the Château Saint-Maire, the seat of the Vaud government.
For this action, the three activists were each fined 1,800 francs and 200 francs in legal costs by the public prosecutor's office. His two comrades-in-arms appealed to the cantonal court and ultimately only had to pay 120 francs each to repair the damage.
The third activist refrained from lodging an objection. At the same time, however, he refused to pay the fine. For this reason, he must now spend two months in prison.
©Keystone/SDA
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