Two of the three environmental activists who attacked the painting “Girl with a Pearl Earring” by artist Johannes Vermeer in the Mauritshuis museum in The Hague were sentenced this Wednesday to two months’ imprisonment by Dutch justice.
The Belgian agency specified that one of the months of imprisonment is a suspended sentence, so only one month is effective.
The convicts in an expedited trial before a court in The Hague are Wouter M., who stuck his head to Vermeer’s painting, and Pieter G., who recorded the protest they intended to alert about climate change.
A third activist, prosecuted for sticking his hand to the wall where the painting hung and throwing a red liquid at Wouter M., refused to be tried under an accelerated regime and should appear in court on Fridays.
The three people were arrested last Thursday in the Netherlands after taking an action to denounce global warming by throwing a red liquid near the famous painting “Girl with a Pearl Earring” in the Mauritshuis museum in The Hague.
The museum had indicated that the work, protected by glass, it has not suffered any damage, despite its frame. According to the Belgian, the damage is estimated to amount to 2,000 euros.
“How do you feel seeing something so beautiful and precious that it is apparently destroyed before your eyes? We feel indignant. This painting is protected by glass. Okay, but vulnerable people around the planet are not protected. The future of our children is not protected. People in extreme poverty have to choose between heating or eating and they are not protected, “said one of the activists during the protest.
A video of the attack went viral on social media and showed one of the activists approaching the famous painting “Girl with a Pearl Earring”, also known as the “Upset Girl” or the “Dutch Mona Lisa”, and he put glue on it. painted him and bowed his head while another person poured a can of tomato sauce inside the activist’s shirt.
The two activists in the photo wore a white T-shirt as members of the “Just Stop Oil” organization.
Source: Clarin
