MOSCOW, May 11. To two elderly environmental activists of the Just Stop Oil movement were charged with criminal damage after they tried to break a protective glass case housing the Magna Carta at the British National Library, the Guardian newspaper reported on Saturday, citing London police.
The day before, two women aged 82 and 85 were detained after attempting to break the display case of this historical document. The action was held in protest against the extraction and use of fossil fuels. The library said there was «minimal» damage to the toughened glass and the charter itself was not damaged.
«Two women over 80 have been charged with unlawful damage after attacking glass around the Magna Carta at the British Library,» the article says.
Both offenders were released on bail and will appear in court on June 20, the newspaper writes.
Activists of the environmental movement Just Stop Oil have been holding protests for several years now, advocating for a stop to oil and gas production. In 2022, they glued themselves to paintings in galleries, threw paint on the buildings of various organizations, and organized various protests and demonstrations that led to traffic disruptions in central London. In 2023, environmental activists continued their demonstrations. In April, they even disrupted the first round matches of the World Snooker Championship in Sheffield by staining the table with orange powder paint. After this, they continued to interrupt various sporting events, repeatedly staged «slow marches» on the roads, disrupting traffic, and also threw orange paint on university buildings throughout the country.