An Extinction Rebellion campaigner who live-streamed her court appearance on Facebook in protest against the third runway at Heathrow has been jailed for three weeks.
Hannah Schafer, 57, was handed the 21-day prison term for contempt of court after the incident at City of London magistrates court on Friday.
She entered the dock with a pre-prepared plan to break the rules on filming inside a courtroom, becoming the fourth XR campaigner to face contempt action in the past year.
On a video showing the courtroom, members of staff, and a police officer, she says: “I’m actually recording and live-streaming this because I have no respect for this court.
“You have no respect for the environment, you have no respect for international law, and I am showing disrespect to the court.
“And I have no intention of cooperating with you.”
When a voice off camera points out she is committing an offence, Schafer replies: “I do know it’s an offence, yes.”
Schafer was at the central London court to face a charge of wilfully obstructing the highway, near to Parliament in September last year.
Explaining her deliberate decision to live-stream from court, she says: “I believe it is time to act, it’s time for us all to stand up and be counted.
“The courts in this country have allowed on appeal the third runway to go ahead at Heathrow. That’s such a massive crime compared to sitting in the road outside of Parliament, which is what I do.
“In a desperate attempt to try and get the government and the other powers that be in this country to take note of the climate emergency….now I’m left with no choice but to try and use illegal means and use non-violent direct action to try and get this government to stand up and take note.”
Schafer, a surf instructor from New Quay in west Wales, is heard on the video refusing to leave the courtroom, saying she has “no intent of cooperating”.
The incident was part of an XR direct action campaign â dubbed Disobey in the Dock â that has seen three other activists facing contempt proceedings.
City of London magistrates court has been processing hundreds of criminal cases against XR demonstrators since 2019, continuing with hearings and trials even while court space has been limited by the pandemic.
In a statement prepared before she went to court yesterday, Schafer anticipated she may be locked up and said she believes they must “throw ourselves on the wheels of the machine as many times as we are able” to force environmental change.
XR said Melanie Edwards, a carer from South Wales, was sentenced to seven days in prison last January for gluing herself to the dock during her own trial, while another woman was handed a 14-day jail term for her disobedience in the dock.
The group said Ărainn Hawke, 49, from Somerset, was also jailed for seven days on February 4 this year, for gluing himself to the dock and livestreaming proceedings with his mobile phone.
XR said Schafer has been taken to HMP Bronzefield to serve the prison term.
19/02/2021
Local climate campaigner continued her protest in the dock.
Hannah Schafer a watersports instructor in New Quay has been in Court in London today charged with Obstructing the Highway in September last year as she sat in the road outside Parliament.
After 40 years of protesting peacefully and legally in all possible ways, Hannah is despairing of the climate and environmental devastation that she sees happening around her in Cardigan Bay, an area she knows so well. “Change is happening much faster. People in the cities do not realise”, Hannah says.
Dr Peter Evans, Director at Sea Watch Foundation which has a base in New Quay confirms that, ”Throughout the UK, including Wales, we are seeing the steady loss of biological diversity, with ever increasing pressures on the environment and too many wildlife species in decline.”
Because of Covid, the Watersports Centre where Hannah normally works could not open as usual at Easter, so Hannah managed to get a job as a Healthcare Support Worker with the NHS. She resigned from this post in order to take part in the Extinction Rebellion protests where she was subsequently arrested.
“Although I was due some holiday I couldn’t, in all conscience, take part in the protests and then go back to my hospital job without isolating for 2 weeks, so I left my contracted work. I have since returned to work on the NHS Bank; they have been desperately short staffed this winter. Whilst I love helping individuals on the ward with their recovery and supporting my colleagues at the hospital, I feel that the threat to us all from the Climate and Ecological Emergency is far greater than the current devastation caused by Covid. I felt I had to follow my conscience to try to make those in power notice what is happening and start taking effective action.
Hannah continued her protest in the dock today. She had been tempted to plead not guilty to get it over with, but does not feel guilty. Before she left for London she said that she had been told that our laws would not allow her to use the defence of Necessity â She argues that her action in September was necessary to stop the greater evil that the climate crisis is wreaking on our planet.
In court she live-streamed part of her appearance to continue her non violent direct action protest.
She was warned that to continue to live-stream would result in her being charged with Contempt of Court. Despite fully understanding this and the likely result that she would be imprisoned, Hannah continued. During the live-stream Hannah said that her crime of sitting in the road did not compare with “the massive crime of the third runway at Heathrow.” She told the court how she had written to her MP, joined Greenpeace, cycled, signed petitions, grown her own vegetables and lived off grid, but all to no avail and that it was “time to stand up an be counted”. She apologised to the court staff, she did not feel contempt for them and did not intend to make their life difficult…but she did have contempt for the Court. The Courts she said show “no respect for the environment or international law”.
Before going to London Hannah said that she believed history would show who was in the right. She believes that those who had been criminalised by the courts for their part in environmental protests would be, “seen as the vanguard of change for a new, fairer and more beautiful world.”
“I don’t have kids of my own, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to see other people’s kids have a nice life. And their kids…”
Hannah was jailed today for 21 days for Contempt of Court.
Brave campaigner in court today.
Hannah Schafer appeared in court today charged with ‘Willfully Obstructing The Highway’ on Bridge Street near Westminster during an Extinction Rebellion protest last September.
Hannah travelled from West Wales to take part in the protest because of her deep commitment to protecting the environment and her belief that we need to take drastic action now before it is too late.
“I work as a Senior Instructor at Cardigan Bay Watersports and over the twelve years I have lived and worked in New Quay on the Welsh coast I have seen the worsening impact of climate change at first hand” she said. “And it’s speeding up!”
“Coastal erosion in our bay is getting worse year by year. Flooding is now commonplace in Ceredigion and yet a couple of years ago it was so dry that the farmers had to feed silage to the cows in June! Imagine – drought in Wales!!! Brown fields!!!”
“Summer storms are becoming more frequent and the number of working days we lose through the season due to extreme weather is increasing. The mackerel have been arriving later and later and are much smaller than they used to be – this has had a knock-on effect on other wildlife and the local tourist and fishing economies. I’m really worried about the situation and not very hopeful by what I see our leaders doing to mitigate the damage being done Things are accelerating. I don’t think people in cities realise how bad it’s getting…”
Because of Covid, the Watersports Centre where Hannah normally works could not open as usual at Easter, so Hannah was lucky to get a job as a Healthcare Support Worker with the NHS on a tempoary Covid-contract. She resigned from this post in order to take part in the Extinction Rebellion protests in Cardiff and London in September.
“Although I was due some holiday I couldn’t, in all conscience, take part in the protests and then go back to my hospital job without isolating for 2 weeks, so I left my contracted work. I have since returned to work on the NHS Bank; they have been desperately short staffed this winter. Whilst I love helping individuals on the ward with their recovery and supporting my colleagues at the hospital, I feel that the threat to us all from the Climate and Ecological Emergency is far greater than the current devastation caused by Covid. I felt I had to follow my conscience to try to make those in power notice what is happening and start taking effective action. They talk sympathetically but are doing nothing to stop things going downhill fast.”
“The announcement in the autumn budget of ÂŁ4 billion to promote a green recovery sounded good until you saw that the same budget contained ÂŁ26 billion for new roads. Heathrow and Leeds/Bradford airport expansions have been given the go-ahead and Bristol Airport too has applied for an expansion. How, does that help us become carbon neutral by 2050 or limit global warming to 1.5 degrees? The government has recognised the Climate Emergency and has allowed a new coal mine in Cumbria!”
“According to even current moderate estimates we’re on course for a devastating 4 degree rise in warming by the end of the century. Why is the money for airports, roads and coal mines not being invested in green jobs instead? Why isn’t that a big story in the news?’
“I don’t have kids of my own, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to see other people’s kids have a nice life. And their kids…”
Hannah was sent her court summons the week before Christmas. It offered her the chance to plead guilty by post but made it clear that she would have to attend court in central London in order to plead not guilty.
“I was tempted to plead guilty just to get it over with, and save the time and expense, but I don’t feel guilty…….. Would not a video appearance make more sense especially at this moment?”
Hannah intends to continue her protest in the dock today.
This is what she is planning to say;
“I have been told that our laws will not allow me to use the defence of Necessity – My action in September was necessary to stop the greater evils that the climate crisis is wreaking on our planet. I sat in that road in a desperate attempt to get the government to hear my voice and act to save us all. I have signed petitions, gone on marches, cycled everywhere, recycled everything, grown my own veg, lived on the land and off -grid, campaigned in numerous ways within the law for over 40 years and things are still getting worse. What else can I do?’
“There is no protection in law for our non-human relatives and whole environments are ripped up and exterminated. What little environmental law there is, is weak and poorly enforced. It is time to stand up and say STOP!”
“Britain is a member of the G7, one of the richest nations in the world, we should be leading the way not only with words but also deeds. We are hosting COP, the hugely significant climate conference later this year where the world must take decisive actions to act to limit the worst affects of climate change. We must safeguard the climate and the environment and advocate for climate justice to protect the countries of the global south who will be affected much faster and harder than us……………everyone, even the rich and powerful will be massively affected if we don’t sort the climate and environmental emergency out now.”
“I believe history will show who is in the right. One day I hope all those of us who are currently criminalised and criticised for our climate protests will be seen as the vanguard of change for a new, fairer and more beautiful world.”
You van see in the video that she did not manage all of that, but gave a polite explanation of her reasons…..
#Act Now. #Tell the Truth. #Go Beyond Politics.
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