The man had, according to the Stockholm District Court, as a climate researcher "a special role and thereby a moral and professional responsibility to act", reports the newspaper Syre.
It was in August 2022 that climate activists gathered at the intersection of Kungsgatan and Sveavägen in central Stockholm to demonstrate for the climate.
The man was initially convicted by the District Court but appealed to the Court of Appeal, which sent the case back to the lower instance. Now the District Court concludes that the man acted in self-defense with reference to climate change.
"The District Court considers that climate change is acute and that there is an immediate danger to life, health, and property".
The verdict is a so-called lay judge verdict, where the court's chairman and a lay judge wanted to convict. The man's lawyer, Linus Gardell, calls the verdict historic.
This is the first verdict that addresses the question of the acute climate crisis where the District Court fully acquits a person with reference to the provisions on self-defense, he says.
Another climate activist was previously convicted of the same crime in the District Court but avoided punishment with reference to having acted to protect the climate, so-called penalty waiver. However, that decision was overturned by the Court of Appeal, which convicted the activist to pay a fine.
