Fine imposed on Greta Thunberg for disregarding police orders during protest
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Greta Thunberg.
Stockholm: Greta Thunberg, a climate activist who blocked the entrance to Sweden's parliament during a protest and disobeyed police instructions, was punished on Wednesday by a Stockholm court.
Thunberg was taken out by police on March 12 and 14, having refused to leave the main entrance where she had been participating in a multi-day demonstration with a small group of activists. MPs were still able to enter the premises through secondary doors.
The activist was fined 6,000 Swedish kronor ($551) by the court, and it also mandated that she pay 1,000 kronor in damages and interest, AFP reported.
An AFP correspondent present at the hearing said that Thunberg denied the allegations of two crimes of civil disobedience.
When the judge questioned her about why she had disregarded police orders, she said, "Because there was a (climate) emergency and there still is. And in an emergency, we all have a duty to act.”
"The current laws protect the extractive industries instead of protecting people and the planet, which is what I believe should be the case," she said as she left the courtroom.
Before this, Thunberg was fined twice in Sweden, in July and October 2023, for civil disobedience during related protests.
A London judge dismissed charges against her in February after she disrupted a demonstration against oil companies in the British capital in October.