Climate activists who targeted famous Vermeer painting win court appeal against jail sentence
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Three Belgian climate activists who were previously sentenced to prison for a protest targeting Johannes Vermeer’s painting “Girl with a Pearl Earring” will no longer face any punishment for their actions, a Dutch court of appeal ruled on Monday.
The demonstrators, who are part of the campaign group Just Stop Oil Belgium, were originally given two-month jail sentences for their protest, which took place in October 2022 at the Mauritshuis museum in The Hague, the Netherlands.
The museum said after the incident that the 17th-century masterpiece was “undamaged,” and it was returned to public view the next day. The Netherlands Public Prosecution Service added that the 19th-century frame had, however, been damaged in the protest.
The men were convicted of causing destruction and damage to the painting, as well as public violence, a spokesperson for The Hague Court of Appeal told CNN, adding that the protestors spent 23 days in detention before the trial.
Given the length of time that the demonstrators spent in pre-trial detention, the court said, a prison sentence would have been excessive.
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