Greta Thunberg: Climate activist Greta Thunberg was detained along with several others during protests against the demolition of the coal village of Luetzerath in Germany on Tuesday. Thunberg was detained while protesting at the opencast coal mine of Garzweiler 2, some 9 kilometres (5.6 miles) from Luetzerath.
Thunberg, who joined the protesters on Friday, was seen sitting alone in a large police bus after having been detained, a witness said. Police said the entire group will be released later in the day.
Protesters to be released
“There is no reason to hold them for days. It might take hours or they will go immediately,” a spokesperson for regional police in Aachen said, speaking about the whole group of demonstrators.
RWE and the government agreed for the clearing of the village in the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The deal allowed the energy giant to demolish Lutzerath in exchange for its faster exit from coal and saving five villages originally slated for destruction.
Activists are of the view that Germany should not be mining any more lignite. Instead, it should expand renewable energy.
Riot police came with bulldozers and removed activists from buildings in the village. But protesters including Thunberg remained at the site staging a sit-in into Tuesday.
“We are going to use force to bring you to the identity check, so please cooperate,” a policeman said to the group, according to some video footage.
Activist jumps into mine
“Greta Thunberg was part of a group of activists who rushed towards the ledge. However, she was then stopped and carried by us with this group out of the immediate danger area to establish their identity,” a spokesperson for Aachen police told Reuters, adding one activist had jumped into the mine.
Thunberg was carried away by three policemen and later escorted back towards police vans.
Earlier on Saturday the Swedish climate activist addressed around 6,000 protesters who marched towards Lutzerath, calling the expansion of the mine a “betrayal of present and future generations.”
“Germany is one of the biggest polluters in the world and needs to be held accountable,” Greta said.
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