Deanna ‘Violet’ Coco bailed after appealing Sydney Harbour Bridge climate change protest sentence

A Sydney climate protester who was jailed for blocking rush hour traffic on the Harbor Bridge has been released on bail pending an appeal.

Deanna ‘Violet’ Maree Coco received a 15-month sentence in December for her role in a protest that led to traffic disruptions in the morning rush hour in April.

The 32-year-old man was part of a two-car convoy that blocked traffic on the bridge to raise awareness about climate change.

The Crown opposed bail on Tuesday in Sydney’s Downing Downtown District Court citing concerns the climate activist would fail to appear in court and endanger the safety of the community.

Prosecutors had also pushed for curfews in case the activist was subject to conditional release.

Violet Coco (in the center of the photo) was jailed for a maximum of 15 months for the Sydney Harbor Bridge protest

Judge Timothy Gartelmann rejected the Crown’s arguments saying that the payment of a guarantee and the fact that she had not violated the conditions of her previous bail assuaged the concerns when he granted her bail.

Ms. Coco will be required to reside at a designated address until December 29 and may not come within a kilometer of the Sydney Harbor Bridge.

Once she returns to Lismore, the activist will not be allowed to enter the Greater Sydney region unless she attends court.

You will have to report to the police every week and hand over all travel documents.

Ms Coco (pictured above) will be forced to return to Lismore at the end of this month, and will be barred from returning to Greater Sydney until she appeals her sentence on March 15.

She was sentenced to an eight-month non-parole period, expiring July 31, 2023, for violating traffic laws by blocking traffic, possessing a flare in a public place, and resisting police orders.

Ms. Coco was also fined $2,500 for lighting the flare on top of a truck parked on the bridge.

Human rights groups have called the protester’s jail sentence a “retaliatory legal action” that restricted the right to peaceful protest.

His conviction came after the New South Wales government passed laws to punish disruptive climate protests earlier in the year, with activists facing fines of up to $22,000 and two years in prison.

Ms. Coco is appealing the sentence which is scheduled to be heard in District Court on March 15.

Her bail comes after NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet told reporters last Monday that he was “pleased” to see the sentence handed down to Ms Coco, calling it “not excessive”.

“If the protesters want to put our way of life at risk, then they should throw the book at them and that’s nice to see,” Perrottet said.

‘We want people to be able to protest, but to do it in a way that doesn’t upset people across New South Wales.

“My opinion is that those protests literally began to bring our city to a standstill. The clear message here, and it’s a clear lesson: everyone has the right to protest, but do it in a way that doesn’t upset people.’

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet (pictured above) told reporters last week that he was “pleased to see” the sentence handed down to Ms Coco, later saying that the protester “made to the people”.

Human Rights Watch researcher Sophie McNeill called Perrottet’s comments “incredible.”

“Amazing Dom Perrottet finds it ‘nice’ that a peaceful climate activist has been given eight months in jail,” Ms McNeill wrote.

Former Bachelor host Osher Gunsberg warned that Perrottet was on a “slippery slope.”

“Protest is vital in a democracy, and considering what is at stake, the level of protest was probably not even close to an appropriate response. It’s a slippery slope from here sir,’ the TV presenter wrote on Twitter.