Greta Thunberg detained by Dutch police at climate demonstration in The Hague

6 April 2024, 14:44

Climate activist Greta Thunberg flashes a V-sign after being detained and driven off in a bus after joining protesters who blocked a road during a climate protest by Extinction Rebellion and other act
Netherlands Climate Protest. Picture: PA

Ms Thunberg was seen flashing a victory sign as she sat in a bus used by police to take detained demonstrators from the scene of the protest.

Climate activist Greta Thunberg was among dozens of people detained by police in The Hague as they removed protesters who were partially blocking a road in the Dutch city.

Ms Thunberg was seen flashing a victory sign as she sat in a bus used by police to take detained demonstrators from the scene of a protest against Dutch subsidies and tax breaks to companies linked to fossil fuel industries.

The Extinction Rebellion campaign group said before the demonstration that the activists would block a main road into The Hague, but a heavy police presence, including officers on horseback, initially prevented the activists from getting on to the road.

Climate activist Greta Thunberg joins a climate protest by Extinction Rebellion and other activists near the Dutch parliament in The Hague, Netherlands
Greta Thunberg joins a climate protest by Extinction Rebellion and other activists near the Dutch parliament in The Hague, Netherlands (Peter Dejong/AP)

A small group of people managed to sit down on another road and were detained after ignoring police orders to leave.

Extinction Rebellion activists have blocked the road that runs past the temporary home of the Dutch parliament more than 30 times to protest against the subsidies.

The demonstrators waved flags and chanted: “We are unstoppable, another world is possible.”

One held a banner reading: “This is a dead end street.”

In February, Ms Thunberg, 21, was acquitted by a court in London of refusing to follow a police order to leave a protest blocking the entrance to a major oil and gas industry conference last year.

Her activism has inspired a global youth movement demanding stronger efforts to fight climate change since she began staging weekly protests outside the Swedish parliament starting in 2018.

She has repeatedly been fined in Sweden and the UK for civil disobedience in connection with protests.

By Press Association

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