Climate activist Greta Thunberg detained twice during protest in Netherlands

Anjali Sharma

GG News Bureau
WASHINGTON DC, 8th April. According to news media reports on Sunday the climate activist Greta Thunberg was detained twice by the police during a protest in the Netherlands after she protested against fossil fuel subsidies by blocking a major road with a group of marchers on Saturday.

Over 400 people were detained on Saturday, according to the police, including 12 for incitement. Activists said Thunberg was freed later.

The protesters who attempted to obstruct a key highway leading to The Hague, the 21-year-old Swedish activist was first taken into custody by local police and held for a short time.

Thunberg went back to join a small group of protesters obstructing another road that led to the train station.

She was detained a second time there and taken away in a police van.

Local news media reported that she was marching from the Hague to the A12 arterial highway, which connects the Dutch government’s seat with Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and Utrecht, were hundreds more protesters.

The environmental group Extinction Rebellion organized the march as part of a strategy to put pressure on the Dutch government ahead of a scheduled discussion regarding fossil fuel subsidies in June.

The group was prevented from entering the motorway by dozens of police officers, including some on horseback, who warned “violence could be used” if the demonstrators attempted to get onto the road.