Court of Appeal imposes fines on climate protesters for defying police

The Helsinki Court of Appeal has fined 33 members of the climate group Elokapina for defying police orders during a 2021 protest at the Government Palace in Helsinki.

Most received ten day-fines, with the total amount ranging from €60 to €500 depending on the defendant’s income.

The protest took place on the steps of the main entrance and at a secondary entrance on Ritarikatu, where some demonstrators had glued or locked themselves to the building. The district court had initially ruled the offences too minor to warrant punishment, but the prosecutor appealed.

The Court of Appeal rejected the argument that the nature of the protest justified leniency, noting that the demonstration had lasted about two hours before police ordered the protesters to leave. It ruled the defiance was deliberate, as the protesters refused to relocate to an alternative site offered by authorities.

Charges of disturbing public order were dismissed, as it could not be reliably established whether each defendant had remained in a protected public area after the dispersal order.