Hours after a court penalized Climate Activist Greta Thunberg for defying authorities at a rally last month, Swedish police withdrew climate activist Greta Thunberg from a protest on Monday, July 24, according to sources.
The 20-year-old activist, who has emerged as a significant figure in the fight against climate change, had already made an appearance in court earlier that day on charges of obstructing traffic and refusing to leave a protest in Malmo, a port city, in June.
She claimed her actions were justified due to the urgency created by the “climate crisis.” After a short trial, the court found her guilty and issued a fine of 1,500 kronor ($144) plus an additional 1,000 kronor to the Swedish fund for victims of crime.
Greta Thunberg said she would not back down in the future, stating that the laws have to be changed and that those blocking the fossil fuel industry are the ones having to pay the price for it. She and five others were forcibly removed from the scene after a protest similar to the one in June.
Thunberg, who founded the Fridays for Future movement, has gained global fame for her climate strikes and regularly lambasting governments and politicians for not properly addressing climate issues. In its resolve to confront the fossil fuels business, Reclaim the Future has not given up its determination. The Malmo court has or will charge six of the protesters from June.
Court Trial of Greta Thunberg
Greta Thunberg, a climate activist, appeared in court on July 24 after being accused of disobeying police instructions at an anti-oil demonstration in Malmö, Sweden. The charge believed to be Thunberg’s first, comes after she joined a six-day protest organized by environmental group Reclaim the Future at the city’s oil terminal on 19 June.
To prevent tankers from entering or leaving the facility, some 20 demonstrators blocked the road and climbed onto them, including Thunberg and three other protestors. The prosecutor’s office has filed charges against Greta Thunberg, who participated in a climate demonstration that disrupted traffic in Malmö. Thunberg, who began her school strike for climate at 15 in Stockholm and rose to international prominence through the Fridays for Future youth climate movement, was detained with three others.
The prosecutor’s office stated that the right to demonstrate did not include the right to cause disturbance to other people. According to Thunberg’s Instagram post, the climate problem already affects the lives of many people and was already a life-or-death situation for numerous people.
Reclaim the Future emphasized that the terminal’s fossil fuel cargoes were a bigger problem than the activists being prosecuted. Greta Thunberg has previously been briefly detained by police in Oslo and Germany, where she protested against wind farms on Indigenous people’s land rights and the demolition of a village for a coal mine.
