In 2018, as part of the action days of the climate camp, a direct action took place during which the Bílina mine was blocked and occupied for several hours. In the end, police arrested about 280 people. The coal company Severočeské doly subsequently sued 90 people for the lost profit caused by the blockade of the mine. These 90 people were sued quite randomly, including people who were for example attending a wedding during the action. One clear example of absurdity for all: among the persons sued was a coal company employee who was wrongly identified by the police as the perpetrator. 

We consider it clear that the coal company's efforts are not about money loss but about bullying and intimidating climate activists. After four years, the court has now issued a verdict ordering 83 people to pay for the lost profit (the amount originally sued for was approximately 660,000 CZK, but given that the court also awarded interest on late payments, this amount will already be several hundred thousand higher). Our legal team is of course going to appeal this decision.
 

Our legal team is currently handling the most lawsuits in its history. Most of the legal team works for free, yet some expenses are unavoidable and we feel it is important that people can be represented by professional lawyers in complex cases. Everything is getting more expensive, and we don't want to leave anyone without the ability to defend themselves. We also offered to pay the legal costs of the wrongfully sued employee of the mining company, but fortunately, his employer came to their senses after pointing out the mistake and withdrew the claim.

 

In order to be sure that we will be able to cover all the costs, we need to raise at least CZK 350,000 by the end of the year. Please help us continue our fight against an unfair system with even a small donation or by spreading the appeal further. 

 

The legal team has been providing its services since 2017 and currently supports over 150 activists in their ongoing cases. Their main focus is on defending people who are accused of participating in direct actions. Each action supported by the legal team is based on a consensus action where one of the core values is non-violence. 

Although our focus is primarily on defending people facing sanctions from the authorities, we also succeed in working to improve the legal environment in the Czech Republic through the cases we handle. Some examples: