(London) A British judge decided Friday to drop charges against environmental activist Greta Thunberg, who appeared in London for disturbing public order during a demonstration against the hydrocarbon industry last October in the British capital .
On the second day of this trial, the judge at Westminster Magistrates Court ruled that the police officers responsible for securing the demonstration had imposed “unlawful” conditions and had not been sufficiently precise in addressing their instructions to the 21-year-old Swede, who was on trial with four other demonstrators.
In total, 26 activists were arrested on October 17 for disrupting access to the Energy Intelligence Forum, a conference which brought together the main oil and gas companies in a luxury hotel in the British capital.
The young activist was being prosecuted for not having complied with the London police’s injunction not to block access to the hotel where this rally took place.
PHOTO KIRSTY WIGGLESWORTH, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Greta Thunberg posed with campaigners as she arrived at Westminster Magistrates Court.
But the conditions of the demonstration were “unreasonably imposed” by police on activists at the scene, and other measures “were available and could have been put in place”, Judge John Law said .
Therefore, “anyone who has not respected these rules has not committed an offense,” he added.
At a previous hearing in November, Greta Thunberg pleaded not guilty, like the four other activists who appeared with her. She risked a maximum fine of 2,500 pounds (nearly 4,250 Canadian dollars).
Greta Thunberg, who gained worldwide notoriety with her “School Climate Strikes” started at the age of 15 in Sweden, regularly takes part in such demonstrations.
In October, it received a fine for blocking the port of Malmö in Sweden.
Last weekend, she took part in a march in the south of England against the expansion of Farnborough Airport, which is mainly used by private jets.