Climate activist Greta Thunberg was sentenced this Monday by a court in Malmö, Sweden to pay a fine of SEK 1,500 (€130 at current exchange rates) for disobeying police during a blockade in June.
The information was confirmed by a photojournalist of the France-Presse (AFP) agency who was present at the court session.
On June 19, a young Swede, along with other activists, blocked access to the oil port of Malmö, protesting against the use of fossil fuels, refusing to obey police orders.
“It is true that I was in that place that day and received an order that I did not listen to, but I would like to deny” any crime, Greta Thunberg said in defense, according to an AFP specialist.
The 20-year-old explained that she acted “out of necessity” in the face of the climate emergency.
Theoretically punishable by six months in prison – a sentence rarely handed down in this type of process – the activist was only sentenced to a fine of SEK 1,500 (€130) and SEK 1,000 (€86.45 at current exchange rates) in compensation.
According to the complaint, Greta Thunberg “took part in a protest that stopped traffic” and “refused to obey the police order to leave the scene.”
On this day, the activist took part in the action of the organization Tillbaka Framtiden (Declare the Future, in free translation) in the port of Malmö, where entries and exits were blocked, transport was stopped.
“We prefer not to be bystanders and (…) to physically shut down fossil fuel infrastructure. We are rebuilding the future,” he wrote in an Instagram post at the time.
Greta Thunberg declined to comment during police questioning, according to a preliminary investigation report that AFP had access to.
Before appearing in court on Monday shortly after 11:00 (10:00 Lisbon time), the activist also refused to give any evidence.
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
I’m Tifany Hawkins, a professional journalist with years of experience in news reporting. I currently work for a prominent news website and write articles for 24NewsReporters as an author. My primary focus is on economy-related stories, though I am also experienced in several other areas of journalism.