The 21-year-old appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court for trial over an environmental protest in central London last year.
Climate campaigner Greta Thunberg has defended climate activists facing prosecution, saying “we must remember who the real enemy is”, after the first day of her trial over an environmental protest.
The 21-year-old from Sweden was arrested during a demonstration near the InterContinental Hotel in Mayfair on October 17 last year as oil executives met inside for the Energy Intelligence Forum.
Thunberg, two Fossil Free London (FFL) protesters and two Greenpeace activists appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Thursday for trial after each pleading not guilty in November to breaching Section 14 of the Public Order Act 1986.
Outside court after the proceedings were adjourned for the day, Thunberg made a statement alongside some of her co-defendants in which she said: “Even though we are the ones standing here, climate, environmental and human rights activists all over the world are being prosecuted, sometimes convicted, and given… penalties for acting in line with science.
“We must remember who the real enemy is, what are we defending, who are our laws meant to protect.”
She added: “History’s judgement against those who deliberately destroy and sacrifice… resources at the expense of humanity, at the expense of all those who are suffering the consequences of the environmental and climate crisis… and at the expense of future generations, your own children and grandchildren will not be gentle.”
