Two climate activists were detained in Lisbon this Saturday, accused of disobedience and obstructing road traffic, and were released “almost six hours later”, a spokeswoman for the Climáximo movement told Lusa.
The two young women are part of the Climáximo movement “for climate justice” and participated this Saturday morning, with two other young people, in a slow march “against the genocide of the climate crisis”, on Rua de Sapadores, in Lisbon.
Heard by Lusa, Mariana Rodrigues, from Climáximo, said the police action was strange because it was a legal march, communicated well in advance to the Lisbon City Council. Halfway through the march, the march was stopped by police, she said.
The person responsible confirmed that the two detained activists had already been released, after being identified at the Penha de França police station and accused of crimes of disobedience and obstructing traffic, and regretted that the two activists had to spend almost six hours at the police station.
According to a statement released this Saturday afternoon by the group, the action had popular support, despite protests from some motorists.
The four young people, idling in the street, carried a banner with the phrase “the climate crisis is genocide”.
Young people from the Climáximo movement have regularly taken part in protest actions against the use of fossil fuels. On Friday, they distributed leaflets in metro carriages raising awareness among the population to take action “and join climate resistance” but were also stopped by the police.
11 young people are currently on trial for blocking the Duarte Pacheco viaduct, also in Lisbon.
Sara Gaspar, one of the activists, cited in the statement, points out the “rights won on April 25th” and says that “all people have the right and duty to resist the war that was declared against life, deliberately and consciously, for decades, by governments and companies”.
And he leaves a guarantee: “we will continue to resist”.
Tags: climate activists detained action Lisbon released Society
