Protests in Lützerath
The young environmental activist Greta Thunberg has been detained Tuesday by the German police while participating in a protest against the demolition of the village of Lützerath, which for several days hundreds of people have come to prevent the expansion of an opencast coal mine. SOURCE: (EUROPA PRESS)
About 70 demonstrators
Around 70 protesters have sat on the edge of the Garzweiler coal mine to which the Police have responded by first surrounding them and then holding them back. Among them was Thunberg, who joined the protests on Saturday.
Mobilizations at Keyenberg
Tuesday’s mobilization began in the neighboring village of Keyenberg, where Thunberg was seen. The demonstrators broke away from this first protest and headed for Lützerath and the open-cast mine, at which point clashes with police officers began, reports Die Welt.
Abandoned and occupied village
The village of Lützerath in western Germany, long abandoned by its inhabitants, was still occupied as of Sunday afternoon by a small number of activists opposed to the expansion of coal mining in the area by the energy company RWE.
Thunberg, retained
The police stated that Greta Thunberg was not arrested, but held for further identification.
Demolition suspended
Demolition of the village remains suspended after two people remain inside a tunnel.
Allegations of violence
Police and demonstrators have accused each other of acting violently in Saturday’s riots. The protesters claim that dozens have been injured, some of them seriously and potentially life-threatening, while the authorities say 70 police officers have been injured. Up to twelve demonstrators have been arrested.
«Climate protection is not a crime»
Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg has defended after being evicted from a protest camp in western Germany that «climate protection is not a crime.»
«Peaceful protest»
«Yesterday I was part of a group peacefully protesting against the expansion of a coal mine in Germany. We were surrounded by police and detained, but were let go that afternoon,» he has explained on Twitter, in his first reaction after the incident.
