Greta Thunberg Carried Away By Police After Being Detained At German Mine Protest

The climate campaigner is among activists opposing the demolition of the coal village of Luetzerath.
Police officers carry Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg out of a group of protesters and activists and away from the edge of the Garzweiler II opencast lignite mine.
Police officers carry Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg out of a group of protesters and activists and away from the edge of the Garzweiler II opencast lignite mine.
picture alliance via Getty Images

Climate campaigner Greta Thunberg was carried away by police during a protest against the bulldozing of a German village to make way for the expansion of a coal mine.

Thunberg was detained alongside other activists on Tuesday during protests against the demolition of the coal village of Luetzerath.

According to police, the entire group will be released later in the day.

Thunberg was held while protesting at the opencast coal mine of Garzweiler II, which is around 5.6 miles from Luetzerath, where she sat with a group of protesters near the edge of the mine.

The clearing of the village in the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia was agreed between RWE, the energy giant which owns the village, and the government in a deal that allowed the firm to demolish Lutzerath in exchange for its faster exit from coal and saving five villages originally slated for destruction.

BREAKING: Greta Thunberg detained by police during eco protest in German villagehttps://t.co/aZ4IViRRlc pic.twitter.com/OY8YtqsCcN

— Sky News (@SkyNews) January 17, 2023

Thunberg was carried away by three policemen and held by one arm at a spot further away from the edge of the mine where she was previously sat with the group.

She was then escorted back towards police vans.

The Swedish climate activist addressed the around 6,000 protesters who marched towards Lutzerath on Saturday, 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,” she said.

Activists have said Germany should not be mining any more lignite – a brown coal generally used to generate electricity at power plants – and should focus on expanding renewable energy instead.

Police officers take Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg away from the edge of the Garzweiler II opencast lignite mine during a protest action by climate activists after the clearance of Luetzerath, Germany.
Police officers take Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg away from the edge of the Garzweiler II opencast lignite mine during a protest action by climate activists after the clearance of Luetzerath, Germany.
via Associated Press

Riot police backed by bulldozers removed activists from buildings in the village with only a few left in trees and an underground tunnel by last weekend. But protesters including Thunberg remained at the site staging a sit-in into Tuesday.

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