A Swedish court fined climate activist Greta Thunberg Monday for disobeying police at an environmental protest at an oil terminal last month, according to The Associated Press.
Thunberg, 20, appeared in court Monday on a charge of disobeying after she and other activists in the Reclaim the Future movement refused to disperse and blocked the road to an oil facility in the southern Swedish city of Malmö June 19, according to prosecutors.
Thunberg admitted to the facts but denied guilt, arguing the fight against the fossil fuel industry is a form of self-defense in light of the existential and global threat of the climate crisis.
“Right now, we don’t have any laws that holds the carbon in the ground,” Thunberg told reporters after the hearing. “We don’t have any laws that long-term protect us against the self-destructing greed that we have let in full control over the world.”
The court rejected her argument and Thunberg was fined 2,500 kronor, or around $240. She told journalists she was “disappointed at the system.”
“The laws have to be changed,” Thunberg said. “We know that we cannot save the world by playing by the rules because the rules have to be changed.”
Pledging not to “back down,” Thunberg and other activists from the Reclaim the Future movement returned to the port just hours later Monday to stage another roadblock.
Police forcibly removed Thunberg from the protest, according to Reuters.
The Associated Press contributed.