Greenpeace Sagunto case: 11 activists acquitted over 2021 gas tanker blockade
The judge sees no crime in Greenpeace's protest against a gas tanker at the port of Sagunto in October 2021 and acquits the 11 activists: there was no violence or intimidation. An appeal is possible.
The case of the 11 Greenpeace (international environmental group) activists ends in acquittal at first instance. A Valencia court has found that they did not commit public disorder when, on 26 October 2021, they held up a gas tanker heading for the port of Sagunto for more than eleven hours. The ruling is signed by the judge of Court 8 of the Criminal Section of the Valencia Court of First Instance. It became known on Tuesday 6 October, thirteen days after the hearing of 23 September. The parties receive it that same day, and the High Court of Justice of the Valencian Community notes that an appeal is possible, so the verdict is not yet final.
The judge locates the problem in the offence itself. To speak of public disorder, she reasons, there would have to be violent or intimidating acts able to seriously disturb the public peace, and what was proven falls short. What the ruling portrays is a peaceful, environmentalist protest aimed at gas, with no aggressive or threatening gestures towards Civil Guard officers (Spain's national gendarmerie) or those aboard the ship. At most, she notes, serious disobedience could have been alleged. No party brought that charge, however, and the accusatory principle (a court may only convict for offences the prosecution actually brought) stops her from changing the subject of the trial to convict for a different offence.
The sequence of that day, according to the court account and the local press: the ship, called the Merchant, came from the United States and, according to Greenpeace and El Periódico de Aquí, carried 138,000 cubic metres of liquefied gas (the court statement says 125,000). It was scheduled to enter the terminal at midday. The Esperanza, a Greenpeace vessel, cut across its path. Four inflatable boats wrote NO + GAS on the side of the hull and one of the defendants climbed onto the tanker's anchor. At 23:35 the Merchant managed to enter, more than eleven hours behind the scheduled 12:00, and did not finish its operations until 20:28 the following day. At around 17:50, with the go-ahead of the Maritime Authority (Capitanía Marítima), the Civil Guard boarded the Esperanza and broke the bridge door, which the captain would not open. Later, with help from tugs and port pilots, the Greenpeace vessel was able to dock in the harbour basin.
The hearing ran for more than nine hours. According to news agency reports, the prosecution ended up asking for two years and six months in prison instead of the original five, after admitting a mistake in applying a criminal law reform, Organic Law 14/2022, that postdates the events. The defence invoked articles 10 and 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights to argue that the protest was protected. During the hearing, Civil Guard officers and company representatives stated that the action was peaceful and caused no damage, and the financial claim was limited to €39,542.27 in port operation costs.
Before the trial, according to Valencia Plaza (a regional business news outlet) on 22 September, Greenpeace had already faced administrative fines of more than €160,000 over the action. The 11 defendants were of 8 nationalities, 4 of them Spanish, and the UN rapporteur Michel Forst and Amnesty International announced they would observe the proceedings.
In 2021, Greenpeace said the blockade was meant to demand that Enagás (Spain's gas grid operator) and energy companies draw up a plan for a gradual exit from fossil gas. That is the organisation's position, not something the ruling examines: the verdict only concerns whether the crime of public disorder took place.
What remains to be seen is whether any party appeals. The High Court's note does not say who might do so or by when, and until an appeal is filed or the deadline passes, the first-instance acquittal does not become final.
According to the Valencian High Court (TSJCV) and elperiodicodeaqui.com, with additional data from Greenpeace Spain, Valencia Plaza and Infobae.