In her first trial, Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg escaped jail time and was fined Monday in Sweden for refusing to comply during a blockade in mid-June.
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On June 19, the young Swede, along with other activists, blocked the entrance to the port of this southern Swedish city to protest the use of fossil fuels and refused to obey police orders.
“It is true that I was in this place that day and received an order that I did not listen to, but I want to deny any crime,” Greta Thunberg pleaded in court, according to an AFP photographer at the scene.
She explained that she acted “out of necessity” in the face of the climate emergency.
In theory, the activist faced six months in prison – a sentence rarely imposed in such cases – and was sentenced to a fine of 1,500 kroner (140 euros) and compensation of 1,000 kroner.
According to the complaint, Greta Thunberg, 20, “attended a protest that disrupted traffic” and “refused to obey police orders to leave the scene.”
On that day, together with the organization “Ta tillbaka framtiden”, she took part in an action in the port of Malmö, where the entrances and exits were blocked by the immobilisation of vehicles and tankers.
“We choose not to be bystanders and … physically shut down fossil fuel infrastructure. We’re reclaiming the future,” she said in an Instagram post.
During her interrogation by the police, Greta Thunberg contradicted the investigator’s questions with a laconic “No comment”, according to the preliminary investigation report, of which AFP had obtained a copy.
Before appearing for her first trial just after 11 a.m. (09:00 GMT) on Monday, she also refused to answer reporters’ questions.
On the part of the organization “Tatilbaka framtiden” the determination to fight against the fossil fuel industry remains unbroken.
“If the court sees our action (traffic disruption) as a criminal offence, it can do that, but we know that we have the right to life and the fossil fuel industry is blocking that right,” Irma Kjellström of Ta tillbaka framtiden told AFP, indicating that after the action in Malmö port, a total of six activists from the organization will also be brought to justice.
“We young people will not wait, we will do what we can to stop this industry that is burning our lives,” she added, citing the mechanism of civil disobedience.
On a Friday in August 2018, the then 15-year-old and completely unknown activist sat in front of the Swedish parliament for the first time with her sign “School strike for the climate”.
In just a few months, young people from Berlin to Sydney, from San Francisco to Johannesburg, followed suit and the “Fridays for Future” movement was born.
Beyond her climate protests, Greta Thunberg regularly attacks politicians and governments for their inaction on climate.