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Greta Thunberg charged with disobeying police order at climate protest in Sweden

If she is convicted of disobeying a police order, Thunberg could be fined or sentenced to up to six months in prison.
Police officers talk to climate activist Greta Thunberg as they move activists from the organization "Take back the future" who are blocking the entrance to the Oljehamnen neighbourhood in Malmo, Sweden, on June 19, 2023.
Police officers talked to climate activist Greta Thunberg on June 19 as they moved activists from the organization Take Back the Future who were blocking the entrance to the Oljehamnen neighborhood in Malmo, Sweden.Johan Nilsson / TT News Agency via AP file

Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg has been charged with disobeying a police order to leave a climate protest in the southern city of Malmo on June 19, according to daily Sydsvenskan.

On the day of the incident, Thunberg wrote in an Instagram post that protesters had blocked the road for oil trucks in Malmo harbour.

“The climate crisis is already a matter of life and death for countless people. We chose to not be bystanders, and instead physically stop the fossil fuel infrastructure. We are reclaiming the future,” she had said.

If convicted for disobeying a police order, Thunberg can be handed a fine or up to six months in prison.

“You have the freedom to demonstrate, but you must not demonstrate in such a way that it causes disturbances for others,” prosecutor Charlotte Ottosen said, according to Sydsvenskan.

The Swedish central prosecutor’s press office could not immediately confirm the report when contacted by Reuters for comment. Thunberg’s representatives could not be reached.