Campaigners plan to launch a new round of civil disobedience over what they say are dangerous attacks on the right to protest in the UK, with nonviolent protests planned in Central London on Friday 27 September and in October outside major legal institutions.

The Free Political Prisoners campaign brings together campaigners across the climate and civil liberties movements to campaign on freedom of protest and speech in the UK.

It follows a wave of stiff sentences for peaceful climate and pro-Gaza campaigners in recent months.

Activists plan to demonstrate outside the scene of the sentencing of the 'Whole Truth Five', Just Stop Oil activists who were jailed for 4-5 years in July.

Several other Just Stop Oil activists are expected to be sentenced by the same Judge on Friday 27 September at Southwark Crown Court.

Related reading: Climate Activists Accuse 'Billionaire Media' of Driving Protest Crackdown

Crackdowns and law changes including the Police, Crime, Setencing and Courts Act, and a new Public Order Act, under the last Conservative Government have led to harsher sentences for protesters, particularly environmental and Palestine activists.

Tim Crosland from Defend Our Juries explained how the new laws are being used to "suppress dissent and truth-telling about climate change" and other issues.

John McDonnell MP, a long-standing Labour MP who is temporarily suspended after voting to scrap the two child welfare limit, addressed a press conference of the groups last Friday.

He hit out at former Home Sec Suella Braverman's lowering of the threshold for legal action against protesters, as well as activists being stopped from discussing their political motivations in court. He said he was disturbed by "disproportionate" sentencing of peaceful campaigners.

Activists from Just Stop Oil and Palestine Action also shared experiences of arrests, harsh sentences, and even the use of anti-terrorism legislation against peaceful protesters.

The campaign is calling for an open and transparent meeting with the new Labour Attorney General Richard Hermer KC to discuss these issues and their impact on democracy.

The role of Britain's media in reporting - or not reporting - on these issues was also a major topic at Friday's gathering, with calls for more support for independent media. Activists want to see the wider media give the new draconian anti-protest laws - and their real-life impact - the coverage it deserves.

This coming Friday, the Free Political Prisoners campaign plans to hold a free public exhibition on the road outside Southwark Crown Court. It was the scene of the controversial sentencing of the 'Whole Truth Five' activists in July.

The exhibition outside the court will last for 90 minutes and will feature images of political prisoners throughout history, from Emmeline Pankhurst to Angela Davis and Martin Luther King. The goal is to remind the public of the freedoms that are being lost.

The law, which we are taught to believe exists for our own protection, is failing. It's being used not for citizens, but rather to shelter those with vested interests over everyone else

Juliet Stephenson

The group plans to continue touring this exhibition around "important sites of law and democracy" until they get a meeting with the Attorney General to discuss the silencing and jailing of people who are "telling the truth."

Actions will see roads outside Southwark Crown Court and the Attorney General's Office "transformed" into exhibitions of "political prisoners past and present."

They want a meeting with the Government to discuss "ending the silencing and jailing of those taking peaceful action to prevent mass loss of life and to uphold international law," according to a spokesperson.

They also want to see the Government's 'independent' anti-extremism adviser, Lord Walney - a paid lobbyist - sacked. The former Labour MP is widely seen as a driving force of the last Government's anti-protest laws.

There are currently 40 peaceful protesters bein...