VATICAN (CNS): The Vatican’s criminal court ordered two climate activists to pay more than €28,148 [$235.4 thousand] in damages after they glued themselves to hands to the base of the ancient statue of Laocoön and His Sons in the Vatican Museums, which is believed to date back to the first century BC. The action resulted in permanent damage.
The activists, Guido Viero, 62, and Ester Goffi, 26, were tried at the Vatican for their August 2022 protest. They were found guilty on June 12, and the Vatican judges sentenced them to jointly pay damages.
They also were sentenced to nine months in prison, but the sentence was suspended if they commit no further crimes in the Vatican in the next five years. Viero and Goffi also were ordered to pay a fine of €1,620 [$12,715] each while a third activist, who filmed the protest, was ordered to pay a €120 euro [$941] fine; the fines also were suspended, but they were ordered to pay court fees for the trial.
The two activists held up a banner that read “No Gas and No Coal” during the protest and showed the logo of the Last Generation environmental group, which organises civil disobedience protests.
The Associated Press reported that during the trial’s first hearing on May 24, Viero said that the protest was meant to draw media attention to the urgency of acting against climate change and that he was not ashamed of his actions since he was fighting for the survival of future generations.
Goffi, who holds two degrees in art conservation, said she had consulted with restoration professionals to ensure they would not damage the priceless sculpture, but the head of the Vatican Museum’s marble restoration laboratory said that the corrosive adhesive used to glue the activists’ hands to the sculpture resulted in permanent, exterior damage to its base, which has since been covered.
