Activist Greta Thunberg was detained this Tuesday (23) by London police during an act in support of protesters from the group Palestine Action (Palestinian Action, in Portuguese) who are carrying out a hunger strike in prison, according to the campaign group. Defend Our Juries (Defend Our Juries, in Portuguese), based in the United Kingdom.
The Swede joined dozens of people on Monday to show solidarity with the eight detainees from Palestine Action, a group that was banned by the UK government.
O Prisoners for Palestine published this Tuesday, on her account on the social network Instagram, a video in which the activist appears sitting on the floor holding a sign in support of the detainees, while two police officers film the moment of her arrest.
According to the group, Thunberg was detained during the protest in front of the Aspen Insurance building, insurer of the weapons company Elbit Systems, which has ties to Israel.
The activist was detained under anti-terrorism law for displaying a sign that read: “I support Palestine Action prisoners. I oppose genocide.”
The group claimed to target this company for providing services to the defense company Elbit Systems. Two activists threw red paint on the facade of the building before police arrived and made the arrests.
The London Metropolitan Police (Met) indicated in a statement that on Tuesday morning “hammers and red paint were used to damage a building” in London, resulting in the arrest of “a man and a woman on suspicion of criminal damage”.
“They trapped themselves near the door and specialist officers are working to free them and place them in police custody,” the corporation said.
“Shortly afterwards, a 22-year-old woman also attended the scene. She was detained for displaying an object (in this case, a banner) in support of a banned organization (in this case, Palestine Action), in violation of Article 13 of the Anti-Terrorism Act 2000,” the Met added in the statement, in apparent reference to Thunberg.
The British government decided this year to ban the group Palestine Action after determining that its activities crossed the threshold of what is considered terrorism under the 2000 anti-terrorism law.
The main reasons cited by Keir Starmer’s government included serious criminal damage, which occurred after members of the group stormed the Brize Norton military airbase in southern England in June this year, where activists painted two military aircraft red.
