Watch: Police carry away Greta Thunberg from protest
By Antoinette Radford
BBC News
Climate campaigner Greta Thunberg was among those briefly detained by police at a protest in western Germany.
She was protesting with activists seeking to stop the abandoned village of Lützerath from being demolished for the expansion of a coal mine.
Police clarified that Ms Thunberg had not been arrested, and later said she had been released after an ID check.
The Swedish activist was detained after a group “rushed towards the ledge” of the Garzweiler 2 mine, police said.
Officers also confirmed all of those detained would not be charged.
Video from the scene showed three officers carrying Ms Thunberg from the protest as she smiled.
Police also told Reuters news agency that one man jumped into the mine, which is located some 9km (5.6 miles) from Lützerath.
Image source, Reuters
The Swedish campaigner is seen sitting in a bus following her detention by police
Activists argue burning coal undermines Germany’s efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The government has pledged to bring forward the phase-out of coal in North Rhine-Westphalia, the state in which the mine lies, to 2030. The national target is 2038.
Lignite is the dirtiest form of coal, and the area around Lützerath yields 25 million tonnes of it each year.
The village, owned by energy company RWE after residents abandoned it, is expected to be the final one demolished for the lignite mine. RWE has said the coal under the village is needed as early as this winter.
The government argues it needs to expand the mine to keep up with German energy demand as it deals with the interruption of gas from Russia.
Organisers of the protest said around 35,000 demonstrators attended on Saturday while police said the number was closer to 15,000.
Police said they had managed to remove all activists from the town over the weekend. Footage from Sunday showed Ms Thunberg and other protesters being moved along by police.
