LONDON: Ten Greenpeace activists were cleared of aggravated trespass on Friday after they prevented a tanker carrying Russian diesel from unloading on the River Thames near London.
The environmental campaigners occupied a jetty in Grays, eastern Essex, in May, stopping the delivery of 33,000 tons of fuel from a Greek-flagged vessel.
They claimed they were stopping the funding of Russian state terrorism in Ukraine but were charged with trespass and obstructing a “lawful activity, namely fuel distribution.”
Judge Christopher Williams cleared all 10 after a trial at Chelmsford Magistrates Court, northeast of the British capital, prompting cheers and applause from the defendants.
“I take the view it’s more than likely the Russian war could be described as terrorism,” he said.
Greenpeace UK claimed in a statement that it was the first time a British court had agreed with the argument that the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine was “terrorism.”
The defendants produced several witnesses to testify that revenues from oil and gas exports were being used by Russia to fund the conflict.
One of the protesters who was cleared called the verdict “seismic” and said it vindicated their actions in full.
“The judge has recognized that we are just ordinary people whose conscience compelled us to stop the oil funding Putin’s campaign of state terrorism in Ukraine,” said Zoe Pontida, a 32-year-old teacher from Oxford.
“With every new town flattened by bombs and every new war crime being uncovered, the reason for stopping the flow of money to the Kremlin’s death machine has grown stronger.”
She argued that the UK government should have taken similar action “months ago” and urged ministers to bring forward a proposed ban on all Russian fossil fuels.
The protesters reached the jetty at the Navigator Terminals site by dinghy late on May 15, then attached themselves to the structure, unfurling a banner reading “oil fuels war.”
The tanker Andromeda was unable to dock and was turned around in the early hours the following day.
Greenpeace UK activists cleared after Russian fuel protest
https://arab.news/ycsg7
Greenpeace UK activists cleared after Russian fuel protest
- The environmental campaigners occupied a jetty in Grays, eastern Essex, in May, stopping the delivery of 33,000 tonnes of fuel from a Greek-flagged vessel
- Judge Christopher Williams cleared all 10 after a trial at Chelmsford Magistrates Court
US Justice Department official eyes cases against Cuba leaders as Trump floats ‘friendly takeover’
- “Working group” formed to build cases against people connected to the Cuban government
- Trump’s has increasingly displayed aggressive stance against Cuba’s communist leadership
MIAMI: The top Justice Department prosecutor in Miami is considering criminal investigations of Cuban government officials, according to people familiar with the matter. The inquiry comes as President Donald Trump has raised the possibility of a “friendly takeover” of the communist-run island.
Jason Reding Quiñones, the US attorney for the Southern District of Florida, has created a “working group” that includes federal prosecutors and officials from the Drug Enforcement Administration and other agencies to try to build cases against people connected to the Cuban government and its Communist Party, according to one of the people. They spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the effort.
It was not immediately clear which Cuban officials the office is targeting or what criminal charges prosecutors may be looking to bring.
The Justice Department said in a statement Friday that “federal prosecutors from across the country work every day to pursue justice, which includes efforts to combat transnational crime.”
The effort is taking place against the backdrop of Trump’s increasingly aggressive stance against Cuba’s communist leadership.
Emboldened by the US capture of Cuba’s close ally, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, Trump last month said his administration was in high-level talks with officials in Havana to pursue “a friendly takeover” of the country. He repeated those claims this week, saying his attention would turn back to Cuba once the war with Iran winds down.
“They want to make a deal so bad,” Trump said of Cuba’s leadership.
While Cuba has faded from Washington’s radar as a major national security threat in recent decades, it remains a priority in the US Attorney’s office in Miami, whose political, economic and cultural life is dominated by Cuban-American exiles.
The FBI field office has a dedicated Cuba group that in 2024 was instrumental in the arrest of former US Ambassador Victor Manuel Rocha on charges of serving as a secret agent of Cuba stretching back to the 1970s.
In recent weeks, several Miami Republicans, in addition to Florida Sen. Rick Scott, have called on the Trump administration to reopen its criminal investigation into the 1996 shootdown of four planes operated by anti-communist exiles.
In a letter to Trump on Feb. 13, lawmakers including Reps. Maria Elvira Salazar and Carlos Gimenez highlighted decades-old news reports indicating that former President Raúl Castro — the head of Cuba’s military at the time — gave the order to shoot down the unarmed Cessna aircraft.
“We believe unequivocally that Raúl Castro is responsible for this heinous crime,” lawmakers wrote. “It is time for him to be brought to justice.”
While no indictment against Castro has been announced, Florida’s attorney general said this week that he would open a state-level investigation into the crime.
The Trump administration has also accused Cuba of not cooperating with American counterterrorism efforts, adding it alongside North Korea and Iran to a select few nations the US considers state sponsors of terrorism.
The designation stems from Cuba’s harboring of US fugitives and its refusal to extradite several Colombian rebel leaders while they were engaged in peace talks with the South American nation.
