Climate activist Greta Thunberg was sentenced this Monday by a court in Malmö, Sweden, to pay a fine of 1,500 Swedish kronor (130 euros at current exchange rates) for disobeying police during a blockade in June.
The information was confirmed by a photojournalist from France-Presse (AFP) agency who was present at the court hearing.
On June 19, the young Swede, along with other activists, blocked access to Malmö’s oil port, protesting the use of fossil fuels for refusing to obey police orders.
“It is true that I was in that place that day and that I was given an order that I did not listen to, but I would deny any crime,” defended Greta Thunberg, said the AFP professional.
The 20-year-old explained that she acted “out of necessity” in the face of the climate crisis.
In theory punishable by six months in prison, a sentence rarely handed down in these kinds of trials, the activist was only sentenced to pay a fine of SEK 1,500 ($130) and SEK 1,000 ($86.45 at current exchange rates) as compensation.
According to the complaint, Greta Thunberg “participated in a protest that stopped traffic” and “refused to comply with police orders to leave the scene”.
On that day, the activist took part in an action by the organization Tillbaka Framtiden (Claim the Future, in free translation) in the port of Malmö, blocking entrances and exits and stopping vehicles.
“We choose not to be spectators and (…) physically shut down fossil fuel infrastructure. We reclaim the future,” he wrote in an Instagram post at the time.
According to a preliminary investigative report, which the AFP had access to, Greta Thunberg declined to comment during police questioning.
Before appearing in court shortly after 11 a.m. (10 a.m. in Lisbon) this Monday, the activist also refused to make any statements.
Source: DN
