Deanna Maree “Violet” Coco, May need to scroll down. (born 1989 or 1990) usually known as Violet Coco, is an Australian

climate activist The climate movement is a global social movement focused on pressuring governments and industry to take action (also called "climate action") addressing the causes and Effects of climate change, impacts of climate change. environmental movement, ...

who was briefly jailed on remand for blocking the

Sydney Harbour Bridge The Sydney Harbour Bridge is a steel through arch bridge in Sydney, spanning Port Jackson, Sydney Harbour from the Sydney central business district, central business district (CBD) to the North Shore (Sydney), North Shore. The view of the bridg ...

in 2022. She successfully appealed her 15-month jail conviction in March 2023, after the judge found that her conviction was based on false information from the police about an ambulance being blocked by her protest.

Activism

Coco is affiliated with Fireproof Australia and

Extinction Rebellion Extinction Rebellion (abbreviated as XR) is a global environmental movement, with the stated aim of using nonviolent civil disobedience to compel government action to avoid tipping points in the climate system, biodiversity loss, and the risk o ...

. The

2019–20 Australian bushfire season The 201920 Australian bushfire season (Black Summer), was a period of bushfires in many parts of Australia, which, due to its unusual intensity, size, duration, and uncontrollable dimension, is considered a megafire. The Australian National ...

motivated Coco to shift focus from her events management business and towards climate change activism. On 13 April 2022, she blocked one lane of traffic on the

as part of a protest drawing attention to climate change. Her arrest for the protest was her 21st arrest. In December 2022, Coco was found guilty of breaking traffic laws and misusing a safety flare and sentenced by Magistrate Allison Hawkins to 15 months in jail. The severity of the sentence was criticised by Clément Nyaletsossi Voule, the United Nations special rapporteur on peaceful assembly, and by

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human r ...

. David Ritter, chief executive of

Greenpeace Australia Pacific Greenpeace Australia Pacific (GPAP) is the regional office of the global environmental organisation Greenpeace. Greenpeace Australia Pacific is one of Australia, Australia's largest Environmentalism, environmental organisations. Origins and fo ...

, also condemned the penalty and the new legislation that enabled it, which he described as “rushed through in a chilling and knee-jerk response to ongoing peaceful protests”. May need to scroll. Coco alleges

New South Wales Police The New South Wales Police Force (NSW Police Force; previously the New South Wales Police Service and New South Wales Police) is the primary law enforcement agency of the state of New South Wales, Australia. Divided into Police Area Commands (P ...

mistreatment during her arrest and detention. Coco was held at

Silverwater Correctional Centre The Silverwater Correctional Complex, an Australian maximum and minimum security prison complex for males and females, is located in Silverwater, west of the Sydney central business district in New South Wales, Australia. The complex is ope ...

, New South Wales, Australia. On 13 December 2022, over 100 protestors gathered outside the

District Court of New South Wales The District Court of New South Wales is the intermediate court in the judicial hierarchy of the Australian state of New South Wales. It is a trial court and has an appellate jurisdiction. In addition, the Judges of the Court preside over a rang ...

anticipating Coco's appeal hearing. That same day, she was released from jail on

bail Bail is a set of pre-trial restrictions that are imposed on a suspect to ensure that they will not hamper the judicial process. Bail is the conditional release of a defendant with the promise to appear in court when required. In some countrie ...

as she prepared to appeal her sentencing. Bail conditions prohibit her from being within one kilometre of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Her appeal of the 15-month jail sentence was successful in mid March 2023, after the judge concluded evidence of an ambulance being blocked at the protest was falsely presented by

. The two charges for resisting arrest and using a flare as an unauthorised explosive remained on her record.

In popular culture

Coco featured in a painting by Lesley Fitzpatrick selected for the satirical Bald Archy Prize Exhibition in 2023, titled ''This is Coal – Don't be Afraid, Don't be Scared'''. Fitzpatrick's painting satirises the Australian government's inaction on climate change while depicting the 2019–20 Australian bushfire season and a 2021 climate protest during which Coco set fire to an empty pram outside Parliament House. A First Dog on the Moon cartoon depicted Violet Coco's 2022 imprisonment.

Personal life

In 2019, Coco was the owner-operator of an events management company. She is the niece of New South Wales state minister Alister Henskens, who recently voted in support of the antiprotest legislation used to convict Coco. Coco was aged 32years in 2022.

References

External links

Violet Coco
– Instagram {{DEFAULTSORT:Coco, Violet Living people Australian climate activists People from Sydney Year of birth missing (living people)