Prosecution Seeks Five Years for Eleven Greenpeace Activists

The Prosecutor's Office has requested five years in prison for eleven Greenpeace activists regarding the obstruction of a gas tanker attempting to enter the Port of Sagunto in October 2021. The trial is set for September 23.

The **Prosecution** has requested **five years of imprisonment** for **eleven Greenpeace activists**. The accusation stems from a protest that took place on **October 26, 2021**, at the **Port of Sagunto**, where environmentalists attempted to prevent the entry of a gas tanker arriving from the **United States**. The trial is scheduled for **September 23** before **Plaza number 8 of the Civil Court Section of the València District Court**.

## Blockade of a Gas Tanker

The events unfolded when the activists, aboard four inflatable boats, approached the gas tanker **Merchant**, which was transporting **138,000 cubic meters of gas** extracted using fracking technology. Their objective was to "obstruct navigation" and affix protest messages to the ship's hull. The **Civil Guard** unsuccessfully attempted to prevent the action, while the Greenpeace vessel, the **Esperanza**, positioned itself to further impede the freighter's access. One of the activists chained himself to one of the anchors of the Esperanza, forcing the Merchant to abort its maneuver and return to anchoring. The Greenpeace boats managed to reach the basin.

The Public Prosecutor's Office maintains that the captain of the Esperanza refused to comply with the orders of the Civil Guard. After repeated warnings and authorization from the València Maritime Authority, members of the Reserve and Security Group (GRS) boarded the ship. Faced with the captain's refusal, they proceeded to fracture the bridge door to take control of the vessel. The gas tanker was finally able to dock at **23:35 hours**, more than five hours after the scheduled time. The prosecution argues that these actions caused "inoperability of the port's liquefaction plant quay for hours" and seeks compensation of **39,542 euros** for civil liability.

## The Right to Protest

The activists' defense, meanwhile, argues that the action constituted a "peaceful protest" exercising the constitutional right to assembly. Greenpeace, an organization "recognized worldwide for its defense of peace and the environment," sought to express its "dissent regarding the activity carried out by this type of vessels." The lawyers request outright acquittal, alleging that the facts presented by the Prosecution "do not constitute a crime."

The defense emphasizes that the protest caused "no danger" and that only the ship's captain was detained. The remaining activists, hailing from eight countries, returned to the Esperanza without being arrested. It is stated that the defendants' conduct from their vessels "at no point caused any danger, nor interfered in any way with the activities of the Port of Sagunto," merely exercising their right to demonstrate. The ecological organization considers this case "one of the most unusual and worrying trials in recent history of social movements" defending the environment.