Greta Thunberg fined for civil disobedience in Sweden

Environmental activist Greta Thunberg was fined by a Stockholm court on Wednesday (May 8) for failing to comply with police orders to stay away during two climate blockades, according to a journalist from the Agence France-Presse on site

Greta Thunberg fined for civil disobedience in Sweden

Environmental activist Greta Thunberg was fined by a Stockholm court on Wednesday (May 8) for failing to comply with police orders to stay away during two climate blockades, according to a journalist from the Agence France-Presse on site.

The Swedish activist will have to pay a fine of 6,000 Swedish crowns (512 euros) and 1,000 crowns (85 euros) in damages, the court said. In March, Greta Thunberg and a small group of activists blocked the main entrance to the Swedish Parliament for several days. Parliamentarians could still access the building through secondary accesses.

The activist was moved by police on March 12 and 14, after refusing to leave the area. Asked by the judge why she had not obeyed police orders, Greta Thunberg, on trial for two counts of civil disobedience, replied: “Because there was a [climate] emergency and There is always an emergency. And in an emergency, we all have a duty to act. » “Current laws protect extractive industries instead of protecting people and the planet, which I think should be the case,” she said again, leaving the courtroom.

In Sweden, the activist has already been fined twice, in July and October 2023, for civil disobedience during similar actions. In February, a London judge decided to drop charges against Greta Thunberg for disturbing public order during a demonstration against the hydrocarbon industry held in October 2023 in the British capital.