Police remove Greta Thunberg from blocking Swedish parliament
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Climate activist Greta Thunberg blocks the entrance of the Swedish Parliament during a protest in Stockholm, Sweden March 11 2024. Christine Olsson/ TT News Agency/via REUTERS
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By Ilze Filks
STOCKHOLM (Reuters) -Swedish police on Tuesday forcibly removed Greta Thunberg and other climate activists who were blocking the entrance to parliament for a second day, driving them away in a police van.
Two police officers had lifted Thunberg and dragged her some 20 metres from the door she had been obstructing before putting her down on the ground.
Stockholm police said that although activists had the right to demonstrate outside parliament, between five and 10 people had been removed for blocking the entrance. They declined to comment on specific individuals.
Thunberg and dozens of other environmental campaigners started blocking the main entrances to Sweden’s parliament on Monday in a sit-down protest against the effects of climate change and what they said was political inaction.
The activists left on Monday afternoon but returned to protest on Tuesday morning.
Thunberg, 21, became the face of young climate activists as her weekly protests, starting in 2018, in front of the Swedish parliament quickly grew into a global youth movement with large rallies across continents.
Last year Thunberg was detained by police or removed from protests in countries including Sweden, Norway and Germany.
A British court last month acquitted her of charges of a public order offence as a judge ruled that police had no power to arrest her and others at a protest in London last year.
