Greta is arrested in Norway in pro-indigenous protest – 01/03/2023 – Environment
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Environmental activist Greta Thunberg was arrested twice during a demonstration in favor of indigenous rights in Oslo on Wednesday (1st). Along with other activists, she was removed by police from the Ministry of Finance and later the Ministry of the Environment.
Thunberg had joined protesters on Monday (27) demanding the removal of 151 wind turbines from reindeer pastures used by herders of the indigenous Sami ethnic group in central Norway. They say a transition to green energy must not come at the expense of indigenous rights.
In recent days, protesters have blocked access to some government buildings, throwing the centre-left minority government into crisis and prompting Energy Minister Terje Aasland to cancel an official visit to the UK.
Norway’s Supreme Court ruled in 2021 that the turbines, built at two wind farms in Fosen and part of Europe’s largest onshore wind complex, violated Sami rights under international conventions, but they remain in operation more than 16 months later.
Thunberg, holding a red, blue, yellow and green Sami flag, was raised and carried by police at the Ministry of Finance as hundreds of protesters chanted slogans.
“We want to make it very clear that it is the Norwegian state that is committing the real crime here, for violating human rights,” she told Reuters minutes before she was removed.
Thunberg and other protesters later blocked entry to the Ministry of Climate and Environment and were again removed by police.
Thunberg, who has become a global symbol of protests against dependence on carbon-based energy, was released along with other activists who had also been detained.
Reindeer herders say the sight and sound of large-scale wind machinery frighten their animals and upset millenary traditions.
In January, Greta was arrested in Germany while protesting against the expansion of a coal mine in Lützerath, a village in the west of the country. According to police, she was released shortly after having her identity confirmed.
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