BERLIN (AP) — A German court on Tuesday convicted a Jesuit priest of coercion in connection with a climate protest last year and ordered him to pay a small fine.
The district court in Munich handed down its verdict in the case of the Rev. Joerg Alt after he participated in a road blockade in the Bavarian capital on Oct. 28. Also appearing in the proceedings were Cornelia Huth, a biologist and member of the group Scientist Rebellion, and Luca Thomas, a student.
The court convicted all three of coercion and imposed fines in line with their income. In Alt’s case, that was a 10-euro ($10.85) fine; the court said the other two defendants’ fines added up to a “low to mid-three-digit” sum.
Numerous similar protests have taken place across Germany and other countries recently as climate activists try to draw attention to the urgency of tackling global warming. The public and political response to such road blockades has been mixed.