In Sweden, environmental activist Greta Thunberg sentenced for refusing to comply

For her first trial, Greta Thunberg was sentenced, Monday, July 24 in Malmö (Sweden), to a fine for refusing to comply during a blocking action. On June 19, the 20-year-old Swedish climate activist, along with other activists, blocked the access to the port of this city in the south of the country in order to protest against the use of fossil fuels. She had then refused to obey the injunctions of the police.

“It is true that I was in that place that day and that I received an order which I did not listen to, but I want to deny” any offence, pleaded in court Greta Thunberg, according to an AFP photographer present at the hearing. In her defense, the young woman explained having acted “by 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 in a press conference following her trial.

Instead of being sentenced to six months in prison, a sentence rarely pronounced by Swedish justice, Greta Thunberg was sentenced to pay a fine of 1,500 crowns (about 130 euros) and 1,000 crowns in compensation (about 85 euros). A few hours after her trial, the activist was arrested by the police again for “refusal to comply”, alongside six other activists.