Climate Activist, Greta Thunberg has been fined for defying a police order to leave a climate protest in a Swedish port last month.
Greta, a 20-year-old, was presented in court where she denied the charges placed against her. She was however found guilty and charged with a fine of 2,500 Swedish krona ($240).
Soon after the release, she was part of another protest where she was carried away by police alongside five other protesters. She was part of a group that blocked the road for oil trucks in Malmo harbour.
” I believe that we are in an emergency that threatens life, health and property,” she told the court on Monday. In addition to that, she mentioned that ‘countless people’ were at risk.
” It’s correct that I was at that place on that day, and it’s correct that I received an order that I didn’t listen to, but I want to deny the crime,” she said.
She was part of an activist group hosting the rally in June, during which she was charged for failing to leave the premises when the police ordered her to. Hours after her fine, she was carried away by police after she joined yet another similar protest.
An environmental activist group that Greta was with, ‘Ta tillbaka framtiden‘ (Reclaim the Future), tried to block the entrance and exit routes to the Malmo harbour. This was in protest against the use of fossil fuels. Reclaim the Future said that they remain determined to stand up to the industry.
“We choose to not be bystanders, and instead physically stop the fossil fuel infrastructure. We are reclaiming the future,” Thunberg said in an Instagram post at the time.
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The group spokesperson, Irma Kjellstrom told the AFP news agency that they have a right to live and the fossil fuel industry stands in the way of that.
“If the court chooses to see our action as a crime, it may do so, but we know we have a right to live, and the fossil fuel industry stands in the way of that,” the spokesperson said.
Climate activists have been targeting the fossil fuel industry. This is because greenhouse gases have been increased into the atmosphere through activities such as burning fossil fuels. The greenhouse gases have caused an increase of about 1.1C more than the world temperature in the late 19th century.
The oil and Gas industry however points out that continued production is necessary so as to meet the global energy demands present.
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