Greta Thunberg was singing along with the band when the band suddenly stopped.
The Hague:
Climate activist Greta Thunberg was detained by Dutch police on Saturday after she and a group of marchers blocked a main road in The Hague to protest against fossil fuel subsidies.
An AFP reporter said Thunberg was seen sitting on a waiting bus with other protesters from the environmental group Extinction Rebellion, while police continued to make arrests.
Thunberg had earlier walked with hundreds of protesters from the center of Holland to a field next to the A12 main highway leading out of the city.
The highway was the site of previous protests by Extinction Rebellion, with activists blocking it before police deployed water cannons and made arrests.
But on Saturday, dozens of police officers, some on horseback, blocked the group from entering the highway and warned that “violence could be used” if marchers tried to hit the road.
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Carrying XR flags and placards that read “Stop fuel subsidies now!” and “The Earth is dying!”, the protesters later engaged in a tense standoff with police who formed a law enforcement wall.
Some protesters later found an alternative route and blocked a main road near the motorway that leads from the seaside city of The Hague to the central city of Utrecht.
Thunberg, wearing a gray top, black pants and blue shoes, joined the band at the start and sang along with the band during their initial sudden stop.
“Today’s demonstration is important because we are living in a global emergency,” Thunberg told AFP as police stopped the marchers.
“We must do everything we can to avert this crisis and save human lives,” she said.
AFP reporters saw at least one protester arrested earlier and dragged to a waiting police car.
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Asked if she was worried about police actions and arrests, Thunberg said: “Why should I be worried?”
Activists say that despite a majority in the Dutch parliament and widespread popular support for cutting fossil fuel subsidies, “the plan will not be implemented before 2030 or even 2035”.
“Meanwhile, the ecological crisis continues to rage, with the country’s outgoing cabinet pretending we still have plenty of time while the crisis is just around the corner,” XR said in a statement posted on X (formerly Twitter).
XR added that the protest was part of a plan to put pressure on the Dutch government ahead of another debate on fossil subsidies in June.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
