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Activist Thunberg on the way to the London court
Photo: Tayfun Salci / ZUMA Wire / IMAGO
The Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg is on trial in London along with four colleagues. The prosecution accuses the 21-year-old and the four men of disturbing public order. They were temporarily arrested in October 2023 during a demonstration against a meeting of energy managers in the British capital.
At the start of the trial, the defendants gave their names and dates of birth. They pleaded not guilty at a hearing in November. If convicted, they face a fine. A verdict is expected to come this Friday at the earliest.
Thunberg did not comply with the request
Thunberg and the other demonstrators - two members each of the organizations Greenpeace and Fossil Free London - are said to have refused to give access to the conference hotel. An officer gave a final warning, but Thunberg did not comply with the request to move away, said prosecutor Luke Staton. She was then arrested.
The London police superintendent in charge had ordered that they were only allowed to demonstrate on a sidewalk opposite the hotel, as he confirmed in court. People couldn't get in or out of the hotel. The hotel operators had cordoned off the building with fences because of the protest and deployed their own security personnel.
Several environmental activists demonstrated outside Westminster Magistrates' Court on Thursday. “Climate protest is not a crime,” read one poster.
kub/dpa