THREE Extinction Rebellion activists will go on trial next Monday after targeting the offices of petro-engineering multinational Worley in Brentford.

The activists are accused of causing more than £6,000 in “damages” to the £3.9 billion firm in a protest involving washable fake oil and chalk spray, over its ties to the East African Crude Oil Pipeline.

Worley has been contracted to lay the pipeline, which activists say will increase CO2 emissions by 379 million tonnes over its lifetime if completed.

Human Rights Watch reported that tens of thousands of people have already lost their lands and livelihoods in preparation for the project.

Defendant Sarah Hart, a mother of two, said: “The minor damage we are alleged to have caused stands as nothing in comparison to the widespread and irreparable harm this project has already caused to local communities.

“Worley is complicit in these crimes. Why are the directors and shareholders of Worley not in the dock?”

In Uganda last month, 47 student protesters were pre-emptively arrested before they were able to deliver a petition against the pipeline to Parliament.

Tim Crosland of Defend Our Juries said: “Peaceful activists resisting this insanity in east Africa have met with persecution, beatings and abduction. 

“The prosecution of peaceful people in Britain for taking such modest measures against this horror violates the most basic principles of law and morality.”