2 elderly climate activists sentenced to imprisonment in Germany

Two elderly German climate activists have been sentenced to several months in prison for sabotage or attempted sabotage of an oil pipeline in eastern Germany, a court said on Friday, reported dpa.

As the two activists, one 69 and the other 74, told the Neubrandenburg District Court that they would carry out more crimes "to save the world's climate," their prison sentences were not suspended, a court spokeswoman said.

The 69-year-old was sentenced to seven months, including another conviction from Bavaria. The older activist received three months.

The pair were convicted of property damage, trespassing, and disruption of a public utility due to two incidents at pumping stations in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in April 2022.

They did not deny the acts, according to the court spokeswoman. "They saw themselves as justified in committing these crimes to save the world's climate," she added.

In one instance on April 27, 2022, the pair intruded into a pumping station near Demmin, which belongs to the Brandenburg refinery PCK Schwedt.

According to the court, they damaged a chain-link fence and the security chain of a rotary valve. At that time, however, no oil was being pumped there.

Two days later, they entered a pumping station near the Brandenburg border, again damaging the fence and a security chain, and actually stopping the oil flow, causing a temporary switch to emergency operations.

The pipeline supplies the refinery with oil from the port of Rostock.