Greta Thunberg on trial: accused of disobeying the police

Greta Thunberg will be in court today in Malmö, Sweden: she goes to trial on charges of having disobeyed police orders during a protest in the south of the country. On June 19, the environmental activist, together with members of Ta tillbaka framtidenI had blocked traffic at the oil terminal of the port of Malmö, to protest against the use of fossil fuels.

«We choose not to be spectators and, instead, to physically stop the infrastructure of fossil fuels,” he wrote in an Instagram post during the days of the protest. “We are reclaiming the future.”

The Swedish judicial authority has confirmed that the charge against Greta Thunberg is the consequence of her refusal to comply with police orders to leave, stop blocking traffic, and stop the protest. The activist faces a maximum sentence of six months in prison, but prosecutor Charlotte Ottosen told local newspaper Sydsvenskan that the crime of disobedience is typically punished with fines.

Despite legal pressure, however, Greta Thunberg remains adamant in her will to resist the fossil fuel industry. “If the court chooses to view our action as a crime, it may, but we know we have a right to live and the fossil fuel industry stands in the way of that», he told afp Irma Kjellstrom, the spokeswoman for the group Ta tillbaka framtidenwho organized the event. Six members of the organization would appear in court in Malmö, together with Greta. “We young people will not wait, but we will do what we can to stop this industry that is burning our lives,” added Irma Kjellstrom, explaining the group’s plans to continue civil disobedience.

Greta Thunberg, now 20, had become famous at 15 for having built the Fridays for Future movement, which quickly became a global phenomenon, to ask for stronger action to fight climate change. His engagement began in 2018, when he started organizing weekly protests in front of the Swedish parliament.