2023-07-10 10:15:00
SIT-IN – This time, Greta Thunberg will not escape justice. Many times arrested and then released in recent months by the German and Norwegian police during demonstrations against fossil fuels, the climate activist is being prosecuted by the Swedish courts for “disobedience to the police”. She refused to leave the scene of a demonstration, blocking oil tankers in the port of Malmö and risks, according to the prosecution, up to six months in prison or a fine.
The facts took place from June 17, when Greta Thunberg joined a group of young activists to participate in a demonstration initiated by the Swedish organization “Ta Tillbaka Framtiden” (Take control of the future, note). Demonstrators even climbed on oil tankers, according to images published by this NGO (Non-Governmental Organization) on its Twitter account.
This is self defense. pic.twitter.com/1CTwUK7SMo
— Take back the future (@TTFramtiden) June 18, 2023
Up to 6 months in prison
Shortly before joining this sit-in (non-violent demonstration consisting of sitting in groups on the public highway, editor’s note) which blocked the port of Malmö for six days, the 20-year-old environmental activist wrote on her Instagram account that “The climate crisis is already a matter of life and death for countless people. We choose not to be bystanders and to physically shut down fossil fuel infrastructure. We claim the future!”, lit-on. Summoned by the police to leave the premises, Greta Thunberg refused to comply before to be taken awaytout comme la porte-parole de “Take Back the Future”, Irma Kjellström.
The latter said she had “blocked the port in order to stop the use of fossil fuels that kill innocent people”. “The real crimes continue inside the port. We are not going to sit around and wait for the fossil fuel industry to take away our dreams.”
In a press release published on Wednesday July 5, 2023, the Swedish public prosecutor’s office announces the measure taken against Greta Thunberg. “The prosecutor filed a complaint against a young woman who, on June 19 of this year, took part in a climate demonstration which, according to the floordisrupted traffic in Malmö”. The Crown does not name Ms Thunberg by name, adding that “the woman refused to obey the police order to leave the premises”. It was Annika Collins, spokesperson for the prosecution, who confirmed to CNN that it is indeed Greta Thunberg.
She is accused of“illegal trespass” et “disobedience to law enforcement” according to the prosecutor, who specifies that “the act was committed with intent”. The climate activist will appear in court on July 24, along with three other protesters. She risks a fine or a 6-month prison sentence, again according to the complainant. Asked about the outcome of the trial, her comrade, Irma Kjellström claims to be “more worried about the horrible harm the fossil fuel industry is causing the world”.
If the environmental activist has been arrested several times by the police in several countries where protest actions have taken place in which she has taken part, this is the first time that she has been the subject of a complaint.
Greta Thunberg, multiple repeat offender
In January 2023, she was arrested in Germany during a demonstration against the extension of an open-pit coal mine in the Rhineland. Held for several hours in a police bus parked near the scene, she was released after an identity check. Her arrest had made headlines in the newspapers, because of the images showing her being taken away, smiling, by two agents. The scene, filmed and widely relayed, has also aroused skepticism among some, who accused Greta of having staged her arrest.
In March, she was again arrested, this time at Oslo and Norway, during a demonstration in support of an indigenous population. The protest blocked access to some government buildings, even deterring Energy Minister Terje Aasland from traveling to Britain for an official visit. The protesters demanded the removal of 150 wind turbines, the installation of which in the Fosen area was declared illegal by the supreme court in 2021. The sight and sound of the wind turbines would disturb the grazing of reindeer, whose herding is a tradition in the Sami people.
Greta Thunberg was soon after released by the Norwegian police. Could the protest she took part in at the port of Malmo disrupt the country’s oil supply? In any case, interviewed by the BBC, a Shell company official said that a reduction in world oil and gas production would “dangerous and irresponsible”. The oil and gas industry also maintains that this production is still necessary to meet global energy demand.
In addition to her actions and protests in favor of the climate and against fossil fuels, Greta Thunberg has been known for several years for her criticism of politicians, whom she accuses “d’inaction”. In January, at the Davos forum in Switzerland, she criticized the World Economic Forum (WEF) for bringing together “the people who most fuel the destruction of the planet, who are in the midst of the climate crisis, who invest in fossil fuels, etc.”judging that he was “absurd” to listen to them talk.
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