The end does not justify the means – not even when it comes to climate protection. This has now been underlined by a court in The Hague after three men glued themselves to a world-famous Vermeer painting. You must be behind bars for two months because of the crime. A judgment that could set a precedent.
After an adhesive attack on the world-famous Vermeer painting “Girl with a Pearl Earring”, three climate activists in the Netherlands have been sentenced to two months in prison. The court in The Hague spoke of a “shocking” act when the verdict was announced, as reported by the Dutch news agency ANP.
Although the valuable painting was intact, the frame and the back of the picture were damaged. The three men had glued themselves to the protective glass pane of the painting on display in the Mauritshuis Museum in The Hague last week and spilled tomato sauce on the picture.
Climate activists had organized a whole series of actions and blockades in the past few months, aimed at famous works of art, among other things. In London’s National Gallery they showered Vincent van Gogh’s masterpiece “Sunflowers” with tomato soup, in Potsdam activists threw mashed potatoes at a work by the impressionist Claude Monet.
In August, two activists glued themselves to a work by Lucas Cranach the Elder in the Berlin Picture Gallery and to the world-famous “Sistine Madonna” by Raphael in Dresden. In Germany, too, such actions may be illegal. Federal Minister of Justice Marco Buschmann himself believes that climate activists in certain forms of protest could be sentenced to imprisonment.
“In addition to fines, our laws also provide for imprisonment in certain cases,” Buschmann told the “Bild” newspaper. “These laws must also be enforced.” With road blockades or damage, “climate blockers” not only “do a disservice to climate protection, but also commit crimes”.