NewsRescue
According to the Washington Post, Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg has been ordered to appear before a UK court after being arrested at a climate protest outside an oil and gas conference in London on Wednesday.
Thunberg, 20, was charged with “failing to comply with a condition imposed under section 14 of the Public Order Act,” according to an emailed statement from London Metropolitan Police. The campaigner was granted bail and is scheduled to appear in Westminster Magistrates’ Court on November 15.
Prior to her detention, Thunberg and other protesters had blocked the entrance to the event’s venue, a hotel in London’s posh Mayfair neighbourhood, chanting “oil money out.”
Managing director of Good Law Practice, Lochlinn Parker, told the Washington Post that UK police have been granted more powers and are willing to use them, which has led to a “significant uptick in arrests.” He noted that Thunberg could face a fine of up to £2,500 (around $3,000) if found guilty. By comparison, fines for similar offenses in her native Sweden are closer to $200.
Arrests at public demonstrations appear to have grown normal for Thunberg. This year, the environmentalist was charged and fined twice in Sweden for blocking a road used to carry oil with fellow activists from the Reclaim the Future group. She was also arrested in Germany for protesting the demolition of a community to make room for a coal mine, and in Norway for asking that 151 wind turbines be removed from reindeer pastures.
While the liberal media has long praised Thunberg for her initiatives, others have criticised her for suggesting extreme changes in a variety of industrial areas. Polish miners performed a mock burial for Thunberg in March to protest an EU emissions guideline that they claim could lead to the closure of mines.