Activist arrested along with other demonstrators in the Garzweiler 2 opencast coal mine
Christoph Reichwein/dpa/AFP
the swedish activist Greta Thunberg was arrested in it Germany, this Tuesday the 17th, during a protest against the demolition of a village. The site is near the town of Lützerath. According to the police, Thunberg was arrested at a demonstration at the Garzweiler 2 opencast coal mine, around nine kilometers from Lützerath. She sat on the edge of the mine with other protesters who were also arrested. According to a Portal witness report, she was seen alone in a police bus after her arrest. The village is being demolished due to expansion work for an opencast coal mine. For climate activists, villages near the site should not be demolished. They argue that burning coal emits greenhouse gases and harms the environment. In their opinion, the charcoal should be left in the ground under them. According to the police, the arrested activists would be subjected to identity checks. According to the police, however, she was carried by police from an area considered dangerous and one protester even jumped into the mine. There is no information about whether the activist was injured, nor about what should happen to Thunberg.
Last Saturday, the 14th, there were clashes between police and demonstrators. According to the organizers, the act brought together around 35,000 people. Militants tried to enter restricted areas of a lignite mine in the west of the country. The police even spoke up, urging people to “leave this area immediately!” Clashes broke out between groups of protesters and police, who were pelted with flares and other artifacts. Television footage showed a number of agents equipped with helmets and shields. They tried to prevent activists from approaching the banks of a deep ditch. The entrance to the Lützerath community was blocked by railings and occupied by demonstrators. The protest was organized in support of the activists and symbolically led by Thunberg.