Greta Thunberg detained by police during Norway wind farm protest

Environmental campaigner Greta Thunberg was detained twice by Norwegian police on Wednesday during a demonstration in support of Indigenous rights in Oslo, according to Reuters.

Since Monday Thunberg had been participating in demonstrations at the finance ministry and later the environment ministry, demanding the removal of 151 wind turbines from reindeer pastures used by Indigenous Sami herders in central Norway.

Over the last week, the demonstrators have blocked access to some government buildings, casting the centre-left minority government into crisis mode, and prompting Energy Minister Terje Aasland to call off an official visit to the UK.

While Thunberg’s protest may seem out of character, the two wind farms have already had their operating licenses removed in 2021 by Norway’s supreme court, which found that the cultural rights of the Sami had been contravened. Despite this, Reuters reports that the two farms remain in operation more than sixteen months later.

“Indigenous rights, human rights, must go hand-in-hand with climate protection and climate action. That can’t happen at the expense of some people. Then it is not climate justice,” Thunberg told Reuters.

The activist, holding aloft a red, blue, yellow and green Sami flag, was carried away by police officers from the finance ministry.

“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 Reuters minutes before she was removed.

Later, Thunberg and other demonstrates blocked the entrance to the climate and environment ministry and were subsequently removed by police.

Thunberg was later released along with other protestors who had been detained.

Reindeer herders say the sight and sound of the giant wind power machinery frighten their animals and disrupt ancient traditions. The president of Norway’s Sami parliament, Silje Karine Mutoka, will meet with the energy minister on Thursday and demand an apology before discussing a solution, she told Reuters.

“We need the government to clearly acknowledge that there is a violation of human rights, and then act accordingly and honour the matter with the seriousness it deserves,” she said.