GERMANY: Greta Thunberg, a climate activist, was detained alongside other activists on Tuesday during demonstrations against the razing of a hamlet to make way for a coal mine expansion in western Germany.
Greta Thunberg released after brief detention
Greta Thunberg was briefly detained at the German mine protest and was released following an ID check, said police.
Thunberg was arrested while protesting at the opencast coal mine at Garzweiler 2, which is around 9 kilometres (5.6 miles) from the village of Luetzerath, after police issued a warning to use force to disperse the group if they did not move away from the edge of the mine.
“Please cooperate as we will need to use force to bring you to the identity check,” a police officer stated to the group.
The village in North Rhine-Westphalia’s region is being cleared to make way for the mine’s development. The government and the mine’s owner, RWE (RWEG.DE), came to an agreement that Luetzerath may be destroyed in exchange for a quicker exit from coal and the preservation of five villages that were originally slated for destruction.
The activists have argued that Germany should stop mining lignite, or brown coal, and instead concentrate on advancing renewable energy.
Last week, riot police backed by bulldozers cleared out activists from the facilities in the abandoned hamlet; a few activists were left in trees and an underground tunnel over the weekend, but protesters, including Thunberg, remained there and maintained a sit-in until Tuesday.
Thunberg was taken away by three cops and held by one arm at a spot away from the mine’s edge. She was then led back toward the police vans.
Approximately 6,000 protesters marched on Luetzerath on Saturday, and Thunberg, the Swedish climate activist, addressed them, calling the mine expansion a “betrayal of present and future generations.”
“Germany needs to be held accountable because it is one of the top polluters in the world,” she stated.
Also Read: Kyiv Helicopter Crash: 16 Killed, Including Ukraine’s Interior Minister
