One of four Extinction Rebellion members charged over the environment protest that disrupted peak-hour city traffic on Tuesday said a court was "complicit in the crimes of this [federal] government" if it did not dismiss all charges.
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Sarah "Daisy" Edwards, Deanna "Violet" Maree Coco, Eric Serge Herbert and Lesley Michelle Mosbey faced the ACT Magistrates Court over the incident between 7am and 10am.
The court heard the alleged disruption was in relation to climate issues generally and Environment Minister Sussan Ley's recent decision to appeal a federal court declaration that she has a duty of care to protect children from future personal injury caused by climate change.
Mr Herbert, 22, has not pleaded to engaging in unreasonable obstruction while taking part in an assembly.
He was the last defendant to face magistrate Beth Campbell, telling her "I'm here to enforce the law and a failure to dismiss the charges makes this courtroom equally complicit in the crimes of this government".
Mr Herbert said he would not be complying with bail or other orders "until this court does the right thing and joins me in enforcing the law".
"Which is to dismiss my charge and let me continue my work," he said.
Mr Herbert is accused of being suspended from one of the erected tripods during the protest.
The other person on the other tripod was Deanna "Violet" Maree Coco, who pleaded guilty to the same charge as Mr Herbert.
The court heard that Ms Coco, 30, failed to respond to police's attempt at negotiation before she let off a flare. She was arrested just before 9am.
"We've tried everything else to engage the federal and local governments to adhere to the science like we have with Covid," she said.
"Not only do they ignore that but they continually make things worse.
"We have an obligation to rebel against a government that fails its citizens. I take that duty very seriously and I take the duty to be non-violent in those actions very seriously."
Following her arguments, her supporters in court gave her a round of applause.
She was fined $500 to pay in 12 months to which she said was "very excessive" as she had limited income.
Co-defendant Lesley Michelle Mosbey, 59, did not plead to obstructing a driver's path.
She said she found Ms Ley's appeal "outrageous".
"We were hoping that the court would treat us leniently because what we're doing is so necessary," Ms Mosbey said.
"We're running out of time. We wouldn't be doing this if we had other options. It's a very desperate situation."
Ms Mosbey said she would continue to protest to bring attention to the emergency.
Sarah Edwards, also known as Daisy, has not pleaded to trespassing a premises on Marcus Clarke Street.
When asked by magistrate Beth Campbell about adjourning the matter to allow her to seek legal advice, Ms Edwards, 48, said she would "say the same thing in three weeks".
She asked the court to dismiss the charge to allow her to do more civil disobedience.
Ms Campbell told Mr Herbert to limit his political statements because she was "a bit like a cracked record in my responses" following the three other defendants' hearing.
She told Ms Coco that her actions were "a deliberate decision to act contrary to the law" and that the fine was already reduced "considerably".
For Ms Mosbey and Ms Edwards, the magistrate said her role was a judicial officer only and the courts were not the place to debate climate issues.
"There's a whole body of philosophical literature on civil disobedience...it's not for me to engage in that debate with you today," she said.
The three accused who have not pleaded are set to front court again on August 24.
Police were able to clear the obstruction for eastbound drivers just before 10am, allowing all traffic to move through the intersection.
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