A climate activist could face up to ten years in prison after sending a letter to oil chiefs posing as a fossil fuel conference organiser to tell them their gathering was cancelled.
Rosemary Penwarden was found guilty of forgery for sending the fake letter to an oil company’s delegates but argued it was a form of “satirical protest”.
The 64-year-old from New Zealand, who previously made headlines after building her own electric car, admitted to writing and sending the false letter.
Her lawyer, Ben Smith, argued that the letter was not intended to be seen as authentic, or sent to deceive.
Following the judgement, Penwarden said said: “I like to think I was a threat to this industry, but for goodness sake, I’m 52kg, five foot three inches high, and 64.
“These are the biggest polluting companies in our entire world. I felt it was important that they heard from little grandmothers.”
She added: “I felt like it was a good time to be quite creative and to try different ways of communicating with the people inside.”
On Wednesday, a jury at the Dunedin district court found her guilty of two charges; making a forged document, and using a forged document.
Both charges relate to a letter informing oil industry delegates that the 2019 Petroleum Exploration and Production Association of New Zealand (PEPANZ) annual conference had been postponed.
News that people had received the letter quickly made its way back to the PEPANZ offices where organisers informed delegates that the conference had not been cancelled.
Penwarden’s letter was displayed with a PEPANZ letterhead, and a row of member logos along the bottom.
In her fake letter, she wrote: “We are deeply concerned at the rapidly accelerating social and political changes engulfing us, highlighted by many of our own children preparing to strike from school to demand a safe future.
“Despite our best efforts at secrecy, activists have discovered this year’s conference and were yet again planning noise and disruption. But there is a silver lining to all of this: we will not be there to listen to that incessant chanting.”
Crown prosecutor Richard Smith told jurors the trial wasn’t about debating climate change or Penwarden’s character, but the use of a falsified document.
“It was just to cause disruption to the conference with a thinly veiled defence of satire woven into it,” Smith said.
Penwarden was granted bail and will be sentenced on September 8.
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A climate activist could face up to ten years in prison after sending a letter to oil chiefs posing as a fossil fuel conference organiser to tell them their gathering was cancelled.
Rosemary Penwarden was found guilty of forgery for sending the fake letter to an oil company’s delegates but argued it was a form of “satirical protest”.
The 64-year-old from New Zealand, who previously made headlines after building her own electric car, admitted to writing and sending the false letter.
Her lawyer, Ben Smith, argued that the letter was not intended to be seen as authentic, or sent to deceive.
Following the judgement, Penwarden said said: “I like to think I was a threat to this industry, but for goodness sake, I’m 52kg, five foot three inches high, and 64.
“These are the biggest polluting companies in our entire world. I felt it was important that they heard from little grandmothers.”
She added: “I felt like it was a good time to be quite creative and to try different ways of communicating with the people inside.”
On Wednesday, a jury at the Dunedin district court found her guilty of two charges; making a forged document, and using a forged document.
Both charges relate to a letter informing oil industry delegates that the 2019 Petroleum Exploration and Production Association of New Zealand (PEPANZ) annual conference had been postponed.
News that people had received the letter quickly made its way back to the PEPANZ offices where organisers informed delegates that the conference had not been cancelled.
Penwarden’s letter was displayed with a PEPANZ letterhead, and a row of member logos along the bottom.
In her fake letter, she wrote: “We are deeply concerned at the rapidly accelerating social and political changes engulfing us, highlighted by many of our own children preparing to strike from school to demand a safe future.
“Despite our best efforts at secrecy, activists have discovered this year’s conference and were yet again planning noise and disruption. But there is a silver lining to all of this: we will not be there to listen to that incessant chanting.”
Crown prosecutor Richard Smith told jurors the trial wasn’t about debating climate change or Penwarden’s character, but the use of a falsified document.
“It was just to cause disruption to the conference with a thinly veiled defence of satire woven into it,” Smith said.
Penwarden was granted bail and will be sentenced on September 8.
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