Activists Peacefully Protest Private Jets During European Business Convention

CliDef is supporting local organizers and legal networks that defend climate activists who have been arrested for peaceful civil disobedience challenging fossil fuels in Switzerland.

A recent, steady drumbeat of arrests and prosecutions of climate protesters has set off alarm bells for movements organizing in Switzerland. Legal experts and partners are concerned that the rise in legal actions by the government could have a chilling effect on freedom of expression in a country where the right has historically been protected. 

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In 2023, over 100 activists from a large coalition of climate justice groups from 17 European countries disrupted the European Business Aviation Convention and Exhibition (EBACE), peacefully occupying exhibited jets and chaining themselves to aircraft gangways.

An unprecedented number of people are being prosecuted, which could in turn open the door to civil proceedings that could run into millions of francs and set a dangerous precedent for climate activism in the country. CliDef is supporting and working closely with groups providing legal assistance.