Acquittal Spora Case

We are a group of more than 15 activists who have been included in the Spora Case, a police operation in which we are accused of ‘belonging to a criminal organisation’ for having participated in past nonviolent protests with Futuro Vegetal. We face a possible sentence of 2 to 8 years in prison and disproportionate fines. From these statements, the judiciary may decide to dismiss the case and acquit us or go ahead with the trial.

Many of us have been doing civil disobedience actions for several years, as has happened in many parts of Europe. And just as the number of movements fighing the climate crisis has increased, the repression against them has also increased in recent years. We started to be fined individually, then at the end of 2022 the arrests began, for which we spent almost three days in jail.Then the investigation that led us to this case began.

Throughout December 2023 and January 2024, the National Police arrested 24 people for ‘forming a criminal structure’, including us. The arrests took place in a coordinated and staggered manner in Madrid, Barcelona, Murcia, Alicante, Cadiz, Zaragoza, Granada, Valencia, Soria, Santander and San Sebastian.

Since the investigation of the case began, we have been persecuted and harassed for our actions of civil disobedience. Among other things, the Provincial Information Brigade of the National Police has followed us through the streets, has intervened our mobile devices, these last months has been blocking our bank accounts and, to inform us of this accusation, came to our homes, to where we work or study and even while walking on the streets to arrest us and take us to the police station.

We are now involved in a long legal process in which we are accused of something very serious, a charge based on judicial and political repression simply for doing climate activism. Although we have always been aware that protesting often means facing repression, today we are afraid of going to prison and facing disproportionate fines.

We want to achieve acquittal on the charges of Criminal Organisation, so we need to raise funds to pay for a defence throughout the legal process. These expenses include the pre-trial phase, defence brief and oral trial, as well as facilities such as travel to the courts where we are summoned, food and accommodation when necessary, along with other expenses to carry out this campaign.

We are a group of more than 15 activists for climate and eco-social justice who are suffering disproportionate repression by the Spanish state. In our struggle for the right to life of all people - including the next generations - and all other living beings, we have carried out protest actions against the criminal action of governments and big business in the face of the ecosocial crisis. We have acted in this way because non-violent civil disobedience has historically proven to be fundamental in generating unprecedented social change.

Although we have taken action with various environmental groups, we do not represent any of them. What we have in common is that we have been included, in the middle of last December, in the Spora Case, a police operation in which we are accused of belonging to a criminal organisation for having participated in protests in the past with Futuro Vegetal.

This has been our experience, sadly shared with many comrades in struggle who are facing hard judicial processes with prison sentences in the Spanish State for actions of Scientist Rebellion, Extinction Rebellion and other groups in the ecological field; but also from other fields such as the 6 antifascists of Zaragoza, the 6 unionists of the Swiss CNT, the 3 unionists of SAT, etc. We also show their solidarity with all the comrades sanctioned by the gag law for protesting and those persecuted by the infamous law on foreigners. We show solidarity especially with the movement for the liberation of the Palestinian people, which is being harshly repressed to silence a genocide sponsored by Europe and the United States. We see it as our duty as activists, from a white and privileged majority, to reflect on our role in the struggle, when comrades in countries exploited by the West have much more at stake every time they protest.