UN official ‘alarmed’ by jailing of climate activist who blocked traffic on Sydney Harbour Bridge

A senior UN official has said he is “alarmed” a peaceful Australian climate protester has been jailed for 15 months – and refused bail before her appeal – amid global concern at her “disproportionate” punishment.

On Friday, Deanna “Violet” Coco was sentenced to 15 months in prison for blocking a single lane of traffic on the Sydney Harbour Bridge in April in a protest staged to draw attention to the global climate emergency.

Clément Voule, the UN’s special rapporteur on freedom of association and peaceful assembly, said online: “I am alarmed at an NSW court’s prison term against climate protestor Deanna Coco and refusal to grant bail until a March 2023 appeal hearing.

“Peaceful protesters should never be criminalized or imprisoned,” Voule said.

On 13 April, Coco and two fellow members of climate activist group Fireproof Australia stopped two cars on the southbound Cahill Expressway on the Sydney Harbour Bridge. They held banners and lit flares, live streaming their protest and calling for urgent climate action.

The protesters blocked one of the bridge’s five city-bound lanes during the morning peak for about 25 minutes before they were removed by police.

On Friday, in Sydney’s Downing Centre local court, Coco pleaded guilty to seven charges before Magistrate Allison Hawkins, and was jailed for 15 months with a non-parole period of eight months.

She will appeal against her sentence, however, she was refused bail on Friday and will remain in custody pending appeals. A district court bail application is set to be heard on 13 December, with her full appeal to be heard on 2 March 2023.