Greta Thunberg detained by cops during eco protest against coal mine in Germany

Greta Thunberg, the 20-year-old Swedish climate activist, has been detained, according to reports. Thunberg was taking part in protests against the demolition of a village to make way for the expansion of a coal mine in Germany's Luetzerath.  

Thunberg and other activists were protesting at the Garzweiler open pit mine. They stood at the cusp of the open pit, which has a sharp break-off edge. Police say it was unsafe and people were restricted from going there.

Thunberg was one of several demonstrators carried away by cops from the mine’s edge in the afternoon, German news agency dpa was quoted as saying by AP.

Several climate activists protested at a main street in Germany’s western city of Cologne and near the state government building in Duesseldorf. Near Rommerskirchen in North Rhine-Westphalia, over 100 activists occupied the coal railroad tracks to the Neurath power plant, energy company RWE and police said. Those who refused to leave were detained.

Moreover, scores of people occupied a giant digger at the coal mine of Inden, while many others joined a protest march near Luetzerath. The village itself was vacated by the cops in recent days and is sealed off.

According to environmentalists, demolishing the village to extend the Garzweiler mine would lead to huge amounts of greenhouse gas emissions. However, the government and energy company RWE asserted that coal is required to ensure Germany’s energy security.

Last year, the national and the regional governments, both allied with the environmentalist Green party, sealed a deal with RWE permitting it to bulldoze the abandoned village in exchange for ending coal use by 2030, rather than 2038.

"It's very weird to see the German government, including the Green party, make deals and compromise with companies like RWE, with fossil fuel companies, when they should rather be held accountable for all the damage and destruction they have caused," Thunberg had said on Saturday, AP reported.

"My message to the German government is that they should stop what’s happening here immediately, stop the destruction, and ensure climate justice for everyone."

RWE and police started expelling demonstrators from Luetzerath last week, clearing roadblocks, chopping down treehouses and demolishing buildings.

(With AP inputs)