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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
World
Josh Salisbury

Greta Thunberg removed from anti-wind farm protest by police in Oslo

Environmental campaigner Greta Thunberg was twice removed by police during a demonstration in support of indigenous rights in Norway on Wednesday.

Police removed the 20-year-old and other activists from the finance ministry in Oslo and later the environment ministry.

Ms Thunberg had joined a protest demanding the removal of 151 wind turbines from reindeer pastures used by Sami herders in central Norway.

Activists argue a transition to green energy should not come at the expense of the herders.

Ms Thunberg, holding the Sami flag, was lifted and carried away by police officers from the finance ministry while hundreds of demonstrators chanted slogans.

“We want to make it very clear that it is the Norwegian state that is committing the real crime here, for violating human rights,” she told the Reuters news agency minutes before she was removed.

A Norwegian Sami protester poses in traditional clothes during protest (AFP via Getty Images)

The Swedish activist was released along with other protesters who had also been detained.

Demonstrators have blocked access to some government buildings in recent days, prompting Energy Minister Terje Aasland to call off an official visit to the UK.

Norway’s supreme court ruled in 2021 that the turbines, erected on two wind farms at Fosen, violated Sami rights under international conventions. However, they remain in operation more than 16 months later.

Reindeer herders say the sight and sound of the giant wind power machinery frighten their animals and disrupt age-old traditions.

The president of Norway’s Sami parliament, an elected consultative body, is due to meet with the energy minister on Thursday.

The energy ministry has said the turbines present a legal quandary despite the supreme court ruling and is hoping to find a compromise.

Activists on Tuesday said they had raised close to $100,000 (£83,860) in recent days to help individual demonstrators pay police fines.

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