Climate activist, Greta Thunberg, has been fined by a Swedish court after disobeying a police order to leave a climate protest in June. The 20-year-old admitted during Monday’s court proceedings that she disobeyed the order, but pleaded not guilty. She argued that she was ‘acting out of necessity’. The court, however, found Thunberg guilty and ordered her to pay 2,500 2,500 Swedish krona.
The fine is 1,500 crowns, with an additional 1,000 crowns to Sweden’s fund for crime victims. The fine is in proportion to her alleged income.
SAVE THE SEAS: WATCH: Hundreds of baby seahorses released in Australia
“I believe that we are in an emergency that threatens life, health and property,” Thunberg told the court in Malmö on Monday. “It’s correct that I was at that place on that day, and it’s correct that I received an order that I didn’t listen to, but I want to deny the crime,” she said.
Thunberg back in hotwater with police
Just hours later, Thunberg and other activists went back to Sweden’s Malmö harbour, only to be carried away by police again. On both occasions, Thunberg and fellow activists blocked the road for oil trucks at the harbour.
Following Monday’s court proceedings, reporters asked Thunberg is she would exercise more caution in the future following her fine. The young activist reportedly said climate protestors were ‘not going to back down’.
“We know that we cannot save the world by playing by the rules because the laws have to be changed,” Thunberg said. “It is absurd that those who act in line with science should pay the price for it,” she told reporters.
The climate protest in June, was organised by environmental activist group Ta tillbaka framtiden (Reclaim the Future). The group blocked the entrance and exit to the Malmö harbour in protest against the use of fossil fuels.
RELATED: Your small, good deed does impact lives positively
Sparking youth climate activism
In 2018, when Thunberg was 15, she began skipping school each Friday. She would stage solo climate protests outside the Swedish parliament in Stockholm.
These weekly demonstration quickly turned into a global phenomenon of youth climate protests. She garned fame for her blunt way of speaking on the ever increasing climate crises.
