The Vatican court of appeal on Tuesday upheld suspended nine-month jail terms and huge fines for two people who staged a protest in the Vatican Museums in August 2022 to highlight the need to address the climate crisis.
Ester Goffi and Guido Viero glued themselves to the iconic Laocoon statuary group as part of a series of controversial acts of civil-disobedience staged by the Ultima Generazione (LastGeneration - UG) group to draw attention to the consequences of global heating caused by human greenhouse-gas emissions.
Along with the suspended sentences, the pair was ordered to pay 28,148 euros in damages and 3,500 euros in costs and fines by a Vatican court last June, a ruling that was confirmed on Tuesday.
UG has said the ruling is totally out of proportion, given that no permanent damage was caused to the statue, as conflicts with Pope Francis's repeated calls to the international community to address the climate crisis.
"Guido and I were driven by love and care when we did this and there was absolutely no violence," said Goffi.
"What is violence?"Is it remaining indifferent when faced with disaster, or is it looking for a way to draw attention to it, so that the disastercan be averted?".
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