Tour de France climate activists off the hook with €500 fine

A criminal court in Auch heard the case of six climate activists. They were charged with obstructing traffic during stage 19 of the 2022 Tour de France.

They chained themselves together and let off smoke bombs along the route of the Tour de France stage 19 to Cahors on July 22. It took quite some time for authorities to clear the road before the race could be resumed.

"Weren't there other legal means to warn about the importance of the thermal renovation of buildings?" the prosecutor Jacques-Edouard Andrault asked. To which one of the activist answered "It was the last resort." They accused the French government of ignoring their demands which was to start addressing climate change by adding insulation to public buildings.

Although the act could have landed them in jail for more than two years, Andrault asked for a joint €500 fine for the four men and two women. However trouble is not over for the protestors. In 2023, they will have to go to trial once again for protests along the ring road around Paris before the Tour de France.