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Climate activist Anja Windl, dubbed Climate Shakira for her resemblance to the Colombian pop star, has been handed an eight-month suspended jail sentence over a string of road-blocking protests in Austria.
Windl, a 29-year-old German psychology student, was sentenced at Vienna Regional Court in the Austrian capital on 12th May after a major trial involving former supporters of the now-disbanded climate group Last Generation.
The activist, who became one of the most recognisable faces of Austria’s Just Stop Oil-style protest movement, was convicted over several actions, including stunts in which protesters glued themselves to roads using sand and superglue.
Judges heard how one such protest took place on the A2 southern motorway in Lower Austria on 20th November 2023.
Windl said she had previously fixed herself to roads in Germany using the same so-called “mummy hands” method, but claimed rescuers there had removed activists quickly with a hammer and chisel.
She told the court: “That goes really fast.”
Windl and other protesters had to be chiselled off the road by firefighters from Wiener Neudorf and Traiskirchen.
A day later, after a similar protest on Vienna’s Ringstrasse, she was arrested and taken to Josefstadt prison, although she was not remanded in custody.
Windl pleaded not guilty during the hearing and read out a multi-page statement explaining her motives.
Supporters in the public gallery applauded after she finished.
She told the court: “The protest was necessary in this situation.”
Her lawyer Ralf Niederhammer said Windl had been turned into the face of the Last Generation movement, but insisted she was simply an activist like the others.
He said: “She is deeply concerned about the consequences of the climate crisis, which we are already feeling.”
Windl had earlier become known as Climate Shakira because of her long blonde hair and resemblance to the singer Shakira.
The trial also heard the case of another defendant who admitted partial guilt after pouring red paint at the Austrian Academy of Sciences in May 2024, causing damage worth EUR 585 (GBP 506).
Prosecutors said he had also taken part in the November 2023 protests by helping form space for an emergency lane.
The same defendant was accused over a separate protest linked to the Middle East conflict after allegedly using a fake staff pass to get into the opening of the Salzburg Festival in summer 2025 and displaying banners against the war in Gaza inside the Felsenreitschule theatre.
Windl was given an eight-month suspended prison sentence with a probation period.
The judge said Windl had appeared “actually unimpressed by the proceedings” and had shown no insight.
One 67-year-old defendant was acquitted, while three other men were fined between EUR 400 (GBP 346) and EUR 1,400 (GBP 1,210).
One 38-year-old accepted the verdict, while the remaining defendants asked for time to consider their positions.
Prosecutors made no statement, meaning the judgments are not yet final.
A total of 47 people have been charged in the wider case, with dozens of fines already handed down.
It is still unclear whether the hearing was the last day of the mass trial, as one witness due to appear on Tuesday was absent because of illness.
(Mike Leidig/Newsflash)
Byline Journalist: Mike Leidig
Byline Sub editor: Marija Stojkoska
Byline Spotter: Mike Leidig
Byline Commisioning Editor: Mike Leidig
Byline Senior Writer: Mike Leidig
Byline Copychecker: Angela Trajkovska
Byline Illustrator: Angela Trajkovska
Byline News Editor: Mike Leidig
Geography: Vienna
Subject: Environment, Climate Change, Green Innovation, Humans, Women
T4 Editor Story Rating: 8
T4 Editor Pic/Vid rating: 7
T4 Total rating: 7.5
