One hundred environmental activists protesting in Geneva against Europe’s largest private jet fair and exhibition have been arrested, protest organizations said, which temporarily blocked traffic at the Swiss city’s airport where the event was taking place.
Greenpeace, Stay Grounded, Extinction Rebellion and Scientist Rebellion said in a statement that activists from 17 countries were arrested following a “peaceful protest”, are demanding their “immediate release” and are concerned about “reports of excessive police use of force against demonstrators.”
About 80 activists were arrested, according to police reports cited by the AP news agency.
The EBACE exhibit is taking place at Geneva Airport, where air traffic was interrupted for about an hour on Tuesday, according to the airport authorities, following a protest by activists who boarded the exhibited planes and chained themselves to the stairs. aircraft, preventing visitors from entering.
According to the airport operator, four people were injured, including activists and security guards.
In a statement, environmental groups assure that “never” the activists “intended to interrupt commercial air traffic at Geneva airport.”
“The activists chose not to go to the runways, but to use only service roads, this should not have affected flight safety in any way,” they say.
Tuesday’s protest, which comes months after climate activists blocked private jets at Amsterdam Airport in the Netherlands, aimed to denounce pollution caused by private jet flights and the “hypocrisy in promoting this type of aviation” in the face of “growing social inequality”. “. “and an “unprecedented climate crisis”.
The organizers of the fair, which runs throughout this week, say the demonstrators have lost the opportunity for “constructive dialogue” on sustainability issues in private aviation.
They claim that the sector is “deeply committed to fighting climate change” having reduced carbon emissions by 40% over the past 40 years.
Geneva Airport is the second most important airport in Switzerland after Zurich.