Greta Thunberg is on trial in London and the Federal Council outlines closer cooperation with NATO

Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg has been on trial in London together with four colleagues since Thursday. The Public Prosecution Service accuses the 21-year-old and the four men of disrupting public order.

They were temporarily arrested in October 2023 during a demonstration against a meeting of energy managers in the British capital.

In a statement outside the courthouse after the day’s hearing, Thunberg defended the climate protests. “Even if we are the ones standing here, climate, environmental and human rights activists around the world are being persecuted, sometimes convicted and punished for conforming to science,” the Swede said, according to the PA news agency. She added: “We must remember who the real enemy is, what we are defending, who our laws are supposed to protect.”

At the start of the trial in court, the suspects only mentioned their name and date of birth. They pleaded not guilty at a hearing in November. If convicted, they risk a fine. The ruling is not expected until next Friday at the earliest.

Demonstration in court

Thunberg and the other demonstrators – each two members of the organizations Greenpeace and Fossil Free London – are said to have refused access to the conference hotel. An officer gave a final warning, but Thunberg did not heed the request to move, prosecutor Luke Staton said. She was subsequently arrested.

The chief inspector of London’s police force had ordered that they could only demonstrate on a sidewalk opposite the hotel, he confirmed in court. People couldn’t get in or out of the hotel. The hotel operators had cordoned off the building with fences and deployed their own security personnel due to the protest.

Several environmental activists demonstrated outside Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Thursday. “Climate protest is not a crime,” read one poster. Fossil Free London said 26 people were arrested during the protest in October – which saw the ‘real climate criminals’ dining at a luxury hotel. (sda/dpa)