Protesters hold placards at a demonstration against climate activist Deanna Violet Coco’s prison sentence. (Reuters pic)
SYDNEY: An Australian climate activist who was sentenced to 15 months in jail for blocking traffic on Sydney’s Harbour Bridge was ordered released on bail Tuesday, pending her appeal.
Deanna “Violet” Coco was sentenced on Dec 2 in a ruling pilloried as “outrageous” and “repressive” by rights groups.
The 32-year-old parked a rental truck on the famed bridge in April, climbed on the vehicle’s roof and lit a distress flare, blocking one lane of traffic for about 25 minutes.
She pled guilty to several offences and, after initially being placed under house arrest, was sentenced to up to 15 months in jail, with a possibility of parole after eight months.
A New South Wales judge on Tuesday overruled an earlier decision to deny her bail pending an appeal in March.
She is expected to be released from Silverwater Women’s Correctional Centre later today, a spokesman for the climate activist group Fireproof told AFP.
The ruling was welcomed by rights groups.
“Coco’s release on bail restores her freedom, but she should never have been put in prison,” said Sophie McNeill, a senior researcher at Human Rights Watch.
“Australian prosecutors have been seeking disproportionately harsh punishments on climate protesters that appear aimed at curtailing peaceful climate activism,” McNeill added.
As part of her bail conditions, Coco is not allowed to go within 1km of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
Her 15-month sentence – under harsh anti-protest laws – had been praised by conservative Australian politicians, including her uncle, a state minister.
New South Wales premier Dominic Perrottet said the protest had been an “inconvenience” for Sydneysiders and the jailing was “pleasing to see.”
However, UN special rapporteur Clement Voule said he was “alarmed” at the prison term and the initial denial of bail.
