Climate activist Greta Thunberg was among those jailed during Tuesday’s rallies against the demolition of the coal hamlet of Luetzerath, news agency Reuters reported citing police statements.
Thunberg was arrested while protesting at the Garzweiler 2 opencast coal mine, around 9 kilometres (5.6 miles) from Luetzerath.
Thunberg, who joined the protestors on Friday, was seen alone in a large police bus after being seized, according to a Reuters witness.
“We are going to use force to get you to the identity check,” a police officer told the group, according to the report.
“Greta Thunberg was among the campaigners who raced to the cliff. However, she was intercepted and transported out of the immediate danger zone by us with this group to establish their identity,” as sated in the report that stated a spokesperson from Aachen police.
According to the report, the spokesperson said it was unclear what would happen to Thunberg or the group she was held with, or whether the activist who plunged into the mine was injured, and that the police would provide an update within an hour.
Thunberg was led away by three police officers and restrained by one arm at a location further away from the mine’s edge where she had previously sat with the group, as per the report.
She was then led back to the police vans, the report added.
The Swedish climate activist addressed the 6,000 protesters who marched towards Lutzerath on Saturday, calling the mine’s expansion a “betrayal of present and future generations,” the report said.
“Germany is one of the world’s biggest polluters and must be held accountable,” she said, as per the report.
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(With Inputs From Reuters)
