Greenpeace criticises jailing of Just Stop Oil's van Gogh vandals: "This is draconian"

The head of activist group Greenpeace has hit out at the “disproportionate” jailing of Just Stop Oil protesters who attacked a Vincent van Gogh painting.

As reported by NationalWorld yesterday (September 27), two Just Stop Oil activists - Phoebe Plummer and Anna Holland - were jailed after they threw orange-coloured soup over Vincent van Gogh’s Sunflowers painting at the National Gallery in 2022. The pair caused as much as £10,000 worth of damage to the gold-coloured frame; the painting itself was protected by a glass screen.

Plummer received a two-year jail term, while Holland was handed 20 months.

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Now, Greenpeace co-executive director Will McCallum has hit out at what he called a“draconian” sentencing, and has asked for a meeting with Home Secretary Yvette Cooper about the matter.

Phoebe Plummer and Anna Holland have been jailed for throwing soup over Vincent van Gogh’s Sunflowers painting.placeholder image
Phoebe Plummer and Anna Holland have been jailed for throwing soup over Vincent van Gogh’s Sunflowers painting. | Just Stop Oil

“This is a draconian and disproportionate punishment for a protest that caused minor damage to a picture frame and none to the actual canvas,” he said. “It’s another grim milestone in the ongoing crackdown on peaceful protest waged by the last government.

“Peaceful protest is a sign of a healthy democracy. Without protest we would have no votes for women, whales would still be hunted to extinction and we would all work a seven-day week. Protest is by its nature inconvenient and occasionally messy. These defendants do not deserve to spend years behind bars for standing up for a livable planet.

“These sentences are the result of the last government’s deliberate policy of stifling dissent and stigmatising protesters. The new Labour government does not have to follow in its misguided footsteps. It should stand up for democracy and civil rights, as well as for those who choose to defend them through peaceful protest. We look forward to hearing back from Home Secretary Yvette Cooper in response to our request for a meeting about these issues as a matter of urgency.”

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