Climate activists get a month in prison for Vermeer protest

The Mauritshuis museum in The Hague, the Netherlands, photographed in 2011. On November 2, two Belgian climate change activists who used Vermeer’s ‘Girl with a Pearl Earring’ in a stunt meant to draw attention to their cause were each sentenced to one month in prison. A third suspect will appear in court on November 4. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, photo credit Wolfgang Pehlemann. Shared under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Germany license.
The Mauritshuis museum in The Hague, the Netherlands, photographed in 2011. On November 2, two Belgian climate change activists who used Vermeer’s ‘Girl with a Pearl Earring’ in a stunt meant to draw attention to their cause were each sentenced to one month in prison. A third suspect will appear in court on November 4. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, photo credit Wolfgang Pehlemann. Shared under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Germany license.
The Mauritshuis museum in The Hague, the Netherlands, photographed in 2011. On November 2, two Belgian climate change activists who used Vermeer’s ‘Girl with a Pearl Earring’ in a stunt meant to draw attention to their cause were each sentenced to one month in prison. A third suspect will appear in court on November 4. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, photo credit Wolfgang Pehlemann. Shared under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Germany license.

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) – Two Belgian activists who targeted Johannes Vermeer’s iconic Girl with a Pearl Earring painting in a climate protest last week were sentenced on November 2 to two months in prison, with prosecutors saying their action “crossed a line” of acceptable protest. Half of the sentence was suspended by a judge in The Hague, meaning the men will serve one month. A third suspect is due in court Friday. Their identities were not released, in line with Dutch privacy rules.

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Climate protesters target the Vatican’s Laocoon statue

‘The Laocoon,’ aka ‘Laocoon and his Sons,’ photographed on display at the Vatican Museums in August 2011. On August 18, climate change protesters glued their hands to the base of the ancient Roman sculpture. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, photo credit FaceMePLS. Shared under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.
‘The Laocoon,’ aka ‘Laocoon and his Sons,’ photographed on display at the Vatican Museums in August 2011. On August 18, climate change protesters glued their hands to the base of the ancient Roman sculpture. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, photo credit FaceMePLS. Shared under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.
‘The Laocoon,’ aka ‘Laocoon and his Sons,’ photographed on display at the Vatican Museums in August 2011. On August 18, climate change protesters glued their hands to the base of the ancient sculpture. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, photo credit FaceMePLS. Shared under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

ROME (AP) – On August 18, Italian environmental activists staged a second museum protest in as many months, gluing their hands to the base of one of the Vatican Museums’ most important ancient sculptures, the Laocoon.

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