A climate activist in New Zealand faces 10 years in jail after a court found her guilty of forgery for sending a fake letter to the speakers at an oil industry conference, telling them it had been postponed due to the climate crisis.

Rosemary Penwarden, [a 64 year old] climate activist in New Zealand, faces more than 10 years in jall for a fake letter canceling an oil conference.

Three years later, after a trial in the Dunedin District Court, Penwarden was found guilty on Wednesday of two charges of creating and using a forged document.

“It was a surprise,” she said. “I’m reminded of the topsy-turvy world we’re in. It should not be the grandmothers on trial, it should be the oil industry, it should be those people who are making massive profits off the destruction of all of our futures.”

  • magnetosphere @beehaw.orgEnglish
    3·
    2 years ago

    I hope she doesn’t actually get anything close to ten years. That’s something you’d expect from a corrupt third world dictatorship, not New Zealand.

    • Gray@lemmy.caEnglish
      6·
      2 years ago

      Seriously. Why the fuck is it even a possibility for ten years of prison over something like this? It’s crazy to me that a nonviolent crime could be punished so severely. I mean, why do we have prison? Is it to remove dangerous people from society? That’s certainly how I think it should be, but these sorts of punishments really show that it’s all about sating the bloodlust of victims.

      • OmnipotentEntity@beehaw.orgEnglish
        1·
        2 years ago

        If you are a powerful person than an activist is the most dangerous person to you and your position. So in a fucked up way the sentencing disparity makes perfect sense.