OSLO (Reuters) – Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg was detained twice by police on Wednesday during a protest in support of indigenous human rights in the Norwegian capital, Oslo. Police took Thunberg and other activists away from the Ministry of Finance and then from the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment.
Thunberg and other activists protested on February 27 calling for the removal of 151 wind turbines from the reindeer pastures of the Norwegian nomadic Sámi. He argues that the transition to green energy should not come at the expense of indigenous people’s rights.
Activists have blocked access to some government facilities in recent days. Norway’s left-wing minority government has been forced to cancel a state visit to Britain by Oil and Energy Minister Arsland.
Norway’s Supreme Court ruled in 2021 that turbines from two wind farms in Vossen, which are part of Europe’s largest onshore wind farm complex, violate indigenous rights under international agreements. But more than 16 months later, it’s still working.
Thunberg, who was carrying a Sami flag, was escorted from the Ministry of Finance by police as hundreds of demonstrators chanted slogans.
Thunberg and other demonstrators were then turned away by the police again after blocking the entrance to the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment.
Thunberg was later released along with other activists detained with him.
