A Greenpeace petition to stop new dairy conversions has nearly 31,000 signatures
The Greenpeace activists arrested in July over a dairy expansion protest in the Mackenzie have been granted diversions, the environmental group says.
A spokesman for Greenpeace said all 12 activists, dealt with at different courts including Timaru, Dunedin, and Christchurch, had escaped conviction.
The arrests were made at Simons PassStation south of Lake Pukaki after a day of protests on July 2 that began when 11 protesters locked themselves on to diggers and machinery to be used in the construction of an irrigation pipeline for the 4500ha dairy farm development.
Greenpeace Sustainable Agricultural spokesperson Gen Toop said the activists, including a grandmother and an 89-year-old man, faced charges including trespass and unlawfully being on a vehicle, which carried a possible sentence of 2 years' imprisonment.
"It's hard to put into words the depth of bravery and courage it takes to do something like that.
