Germany: Police arrest Greta Thunberg at a climate protest (Photo: Reuters)/Reuters
The authorities in the Netherlands arrested yesterday (Saturday) the well-known environmental activist, the activist Greta Thunberg, this after she, together with other environmental activists, blocked the main gate leading to the train station in The Hague.
The blockade was made by members of the "Extinction rebellion" group as a protest against the Dutch subsidies for fossil fuels.
Thunberg was arrested twice - once by the local police who held her for a short time before she was released, and then she was arrested a second time after she joined a group of protesters and together they blocked the road leading to the central train station of the city of The Hague as mentioned. Thunberg was taken from the scene in a car and was then held in custody for several hours until she was released.
Activists from the organization have blocked the highway more than 30 times in the past in protest of the subsidies, and last night the Dutch police were deployed in large forces, including police on horseback, who prevented the protesters from getting on the highway leading to the national parliament in The Hague.
The police later announced that more than 400 people had been arrested during the day for ignoring police orders to disperse.
The police in The Hague arrest Thunberg. "Why should I be afraid?"/Reuters
"It is important to demonstrate today because we are in a planetary emergency," Thunberg told the AFP news agency. "We must do everything to prevent this crisis and save human lives," she added. When asked if she was afraid of being arrested, Thunberg said: "Why would I be afraid?".
The Extinction Rebellion organization has announced that it will continue to hold demonstrations until the Dutch government stops using public funds to subsidize the oil and gas industry.
"Meanwhile, the ecological crisis continues to rage and the outgoing cabinet of the country pretends that we have all the time in the world, while the crisis is now," said a statement published on the website X.
Thunberg, 21, was arrested and fined quite a few times for her climate protest actions. In February, a court in London found her justified in a trial where she was accused of disturbing public order. In January she was arrested with other activists in Germany. She has been repeatedly fined in Sweden and the UK for her actions.
Thunberg also expressed a firm stance in favor of Gaza when, after the 7/10 massacre, she posed with signs calling for support for Gaza, and even with a sign bearing an anti-Semitic symbol - an octopus doll, a Nazi image that depicts how the Jews are sending their arms around the world. She later deleted a tweet on Twitter and posted a new one, in which she explains that she did not understand the meaning.
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