Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg has been removed by law enforcement from a lockdown action in Malmö, Sweden, hours after her first trial where she was convicted of disobeying police.
Six activists, including Greta Thunberg, were taken away by Malmö police for “refusal to comply”, after they again blocked the city’s port, according to police and an AFP photographer.
This police operation comes a few hours after the young Swede was fined for identical facts.
On June 19, along with other activists, Greta Thunberg blocked access to the same port to protest against the use of fossil fuels and refused to obey police orders.
“It is true that I was there that day and that I received an order that I did not listen to, but I would like to deny” any crime, she pleaded Monday before the Malmö court, according to an AFP photographer on the spot.
She explained that she acted “out of necessity” in the face of the climate emergency.
“In my opinion, we are in an emergency situation, and for this reason, my action was legitimate,” she justified at a press conference after her trial.
In theory facing six months in prison – a sentence rarely pronounced in this type of case – the activist was sentenced to pay a fine of 1,500 crowns (191 $CA) and 1,000 crowns in compensation (127 $CA).
According to the complaint, 20-year-old Greta Thunberg “participated in a protest that disrupted traffic” and “refused to obey police orders to leave the scene.”
‘Absurd’ punishment
“We are certainly not going to retreat,” reacted the activist after the announcement of the verdict, arguing that the laws must be changed to be able to protect the planet.
“It is absurd that those who act according to scientific data, those who block the fossil fuel industry, are the ones who must pay the price,” she added.
On the side of the environmental organization “Ta tillbaka framtiden”, with which Greta Thunberg mobilized on Monday and June 19, the determination to fight against the fossil fuel industry also remains intact.
“If the court chooses to see our action of (disrupting traffic) as a crime, it can do it, but we know that we have the right to live, and the fossil fuel industry is blocking this right”, reacted to AFP Irma Kjellström of “Ta tillbaka framtiden”.
In addition to Greta Thunberg, five activists of the organization are to be tried for the first blocking of the port of Malmö.
“We young people are not going to wait, but are going to do what we can to stop this industry which is burning our lives,” added Mr.me Kjellström, claiming the mode of action of civil disobedience.
On a Friday in August 2018, the activist, 15 years old at the time and totally unknown, sat for the first time in front of the Swedish Parliament with her sign “School strike for the climate”.
In a few months, from Berlin to Sydney, from San Francisco to Johannesburg, young people followed suit and the “Fridays for Future” movement was born.
Beyond her climate protests, Greta Thunberg regularly attacks politicians and governments for their climate inaction.