Greta Thunberg and co‑defendants acquitted in London court over hotel protest charges

The Swedish youth activist along with four others were charged with impeding access to a hotel where a conference involving representatives from the gas and oil industry was taking place. A verdict in this case was announced on Friday, February 2, by the Magistrate's Court in the Westminster borough of London. Greta Thunberg was acquitted of the charges brought against her.

John Law, the presiding judge in Greta Thunberg's case, declared "significant gaps in the evidence" presented against the environmental activist and her four co-defendants. Note that the activist, alongside 26 others, was arrested on October 17, 2023.

The events unfolded outside the London-based InterContinental London Park Lane hotel. At the time, it was hosting the annual conference for the oil and gas sector, known as the Energy Intelligence Forum. Greta and other demonstrators barred entry to the hotel and disregarded police orders to vacate the street.

In justifying the acquittal, Judge Law posited that the police could have adopted less restrictive measures. He expressed the notion that the officers failed to specify exactly where the protesters outside the hotel should have relocated. Moreover, the dispersal order issued "lacked such clarity that it did not comply with the law." Thus, the judge deduced those who defied it did not violate any law.