(VitalNews.org) – World famous climate activist Great Thunberg, 20, has been ordered to pay 2500 Swedish kronor in fines (approximately $240) by a court in Malmö district, Sweden. The fine came after the court found Thunberg guilty of disobeying police orders on June 19th, when Thunberg, along with a dozen other activists caused disruption by blocking the road leading to the oil port. Police attempted to remove the blockade by ordering them to move, reportedly giving them several opportunities to move under their own steam. Some protestors refused to do so and were consequently detained by police; Thunberg was one of them.
This is not Thunberg’s first encounter with the law. In January this year, she was detained by police for just a few hours after staging a protest against plans to expand a German coal mine. The controversial plans had already seen the villagers evacuated, mostly by 2017, but a number of protestors had set up a makeshift camp in the village to try to prevent any mining. Thunberg joined them for a brief sit-in protest before being removed.
Thunberg first gained fame during her teens when she, along with other children, staged a series of protests known as “school strikes” in which she opted to miss school every Friday from the age of 15, preferring to protest those she considered to be responsible for climate change, including her country’s Government.
She has continued to hit headlines for her various forms of protest or attempts to raise her cause’s profile, including spending two weeks traveling by boat from the United Kingdom to the United States of America in order to take part in two climate conferences without using air travel. By spending two weeks traveling over choppy seas in hurricane season, and without a toilet or kitchen, she managed to reach America without leaving a carbon footprint. The specialist boat used various forms of renewable energy to power its voyage.
Thunberg’s enthusiasm for headline-grabbing protests was not dampened by her Swedish court-issued fine, as she immediately returned to protest after leaving court and telling the press that the “real crime” was the continuing oil industry. She added that the world needed to be “saved”, and that this could not happen by following the rules.
Copyright 2023, VitalNews.org
