A British judge has decided to drop charges against environmentalist Greta Tunberg, who was sued in London for disturbing the peace during a demonstration against the oil and gas industry in the British capital last October, AFP reports.
On the second day of the trial, the judge at Westminster Magistrates' Court ruled that police officers in charge of security at the demonstration had set "unlawful" conditions and had not been precise enough in giving their instructions to the 21-year-old Swede, who was tried along with four other demonstrators.
A total of 26 activists were arrested on 17 October for trespassing at the Energy Intelligence Forum, a conference attended by major oil and gas companies at a luxury hotel in the British capital.
The young activists were charged with failing to comply with a London police order not to block access to the hotel where the conference was being held.
But the conditions under which the demonstration was held were "unreasonably imposed" by police on activists attending the venue, and other measures "were available and could have been implemented", Judge John Lowe said.
Therefore, "anyone who failed to comply with these rules has not committed an offence," he added.
At the previous hearing in November, Greta Tunberg pleaded not guilty, as did the other four activists who appeared with her. She had faced a maximum fine of £2,500.
Greta Tunberg, who gained worldwide notoriety with the 'School Climate Strikes' at the age of 15 in Sweden, regularly takes part in similar demonstrations.
In October she was fined for blocking the port of Malmö in Sweden.
Last weekend, she took part in a march in southern England against the expansion of Farnborough airport, which is mainly used by private jets. / BGNES
