A Vatican court on Tuesday sentenced two climate activists to aggravated damages and 28,000 euros in protest for sticking their hands to the base of a statue in the Vatican Museums in protest.
The two members of the Última Generación environmental group, Guido Viero and Ester Goffi, were also sentenced to nine months suspended and fined 1,620 euros each.
A third activist, also prosecuted, Laura Zorzini, was fined 120 euros.
The trial stemmed from an August 18 protest at the Vatican Museums, during which Viero and Goffi glued their hands to the base of the statue of Laocoon, one of a collection believed to date to the first century B.C. C., and hung a banner that says “Last generation: without gas and without carbon”.
In this statue we see Laocoon, the priest who tried to warn the Trojans about the plot of the Greeks with the Trojan horse. He was ignored and Troy was conquered.
Today activists try to warn humanity, but they are equally ignored and repressed. #ClimateEmergency #Rome pic.twitter.com/itVISaWDPH– Last Generation (@UltimaGenerazi1) August 18, 2022
The initiative was part of a wave of protests by activists across Europe at museums and other cultural institutions, which have stalled in an attempt to draw attention to what activists say is the failure of governments to take action to combat climate change.
In closing arguments, the Vatican City State lawyer accused the defendants of exploiting Pope Francis’ known concern for the environment by causing “inestimable” damage to the world’s artistic and cultural heritage.
Source: TSF
