He observed our roleplay throughout without participating. When we went to court, all thirty-two of us made a personal statement explaining that we had broken the law in response to the call of our conscience and as part of our struggle to save the world's rainforests. We were, predictably, convicted but we were also empowered by our collective action. Given my experience with courts to date, I have serious reservations about cooperating with trials. While I am not convinced that these advantages always justify the quality energy put into formulating creative but usually doomed court defences, my belief is that it is a part of the process that activists need to experience in order to fully liberate themselves.
Most activist trials lead to convictions and either community service orders or fines.
The long history of nonviolent struggle makes it clear that activists who choose to accept jail sentences often make a significant strategic contribution to the success of their campaign. Moreover, spending time in jail can be a personally empowering experience. And like its equivalent above, the second question can only be answered by reference to your own conscience and personal circumstances. Let us consider this question more fully. As with my response above, in my view, the best way to deal with these fears is to discuss them beforehand in a forum designed for the purpose.