Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg was detained on Tuesday for a few hours along with other protesters during a protest once morest the extension of a coal mine in western Germany, German police announced.
“The group (of protesters) is detained,” said a police spokeswoman, adding that the detainees “separated from the demonstration” and ran to the edge of an open well.
Images broadcast on the networks showed the activist being evacuated by security forces near the town of Lützerath, in the west of the country, the AFP news agency reported.
The Police specified that they were identifying the delayed persons and that they would decide later what measures to take, but added that the activists were not formally detained.
Just a couple of hours later, Thunberg was released, once her identity was verified.
Thunberg has been in Germany for a few days to support protesters in the abandoned town of Lützerath who oppose the expansion of an open-cast coal mine, the largest in Europe.
Last Saturday, a protest once morest the extension of the mine brought together more than 15,000 people, according to the Police, and some 35,000 people, according to the organizers.
The demonstration led to clashes that left dozens injured, and activists accused the Police of having exercised “pure violence.”
Lützerath, now owned by the energy company RWE and located west of Cologne, had been cordoned off and surrounded by a double fence for days. The few remaining buildings in the settlement are currently being demolished so that RWE can excavate the lignite underneath.
The Executive considers its extension necessary to guarantee the country’s energy security following the interruption of the Russian gas supply.
Opponents of the plan reject this argument, saying that current lignite reserves are sufficient.
“It is a shame that the German government makes agreements and compromises with companies like RWE,” the German energy group, Thunberg declared from a rostrum.
Protesters marched today with signs reading “Stop coal” and “Lützerath lives!”.
