Bologna climate road block had 'noble' purpose - judge

Last Generation members caused disruption by halting traffic

By: ansa.it

Apr 30 2024
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Bologna climate road block had

A judge has described as "noble" the aims of three people who blocked traffic on Bologna's ring road on November 2 to highlight the need to tackle the climate crisis.
    The members of the Ultima Generazione (UG - Last Generation) civil-disobedience group were found guilty of private violence and interruption of a public service and sentenced to six months in jail for the protest.
    But the judge accepted that the three had mitigating circumstance and the explanation of the ruling released on Tuesday said that they "certainly did not act to satisfy a personal and selfish interest, but for a higher, noble and altruistic purpose, namely the protection of the environment".
    The explanation added that there is a "concrete and increasingly alarming risk" of the environment "being irreversibly compromised due to the ongoing climate change".
    The Bologna road block was only part of a long series of controversial acts of civil-disobedience staged by the UG to draw attention to the consequences of global heating caused by human greenhouse-gas emissions.