Dutch police arrest 200+ climate activists over airport 'stunt'

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
6 Nov 2022 13:40

This comes after climate activists blocked a runway at Schiphol airport in the Netherlands on Saturday preventing private jets from flying.

Hundreds of climate protesters staged a demonstration at Schiphol airport in the Netherlands on Saturday. (Getty Images)

Military police arrested more than 200 climate activists, including those who prevented several private jets from departing from Amsterdam's Schiphol airport on Saturday, according to Dutch media.

The arrests made were in connection with Saturday's climate activities at the country's largest airport, according to Dutch police enforcement. "They have all committed a criminal offense," a spokesperson for the military police was quoted as saying by the NL Times.

Climate activists occupy tarmac at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport | AFP
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The detainees are currently being processed, according to the spokesperson, and their fate will be decided by the Public Prosecution Service, according to the article.

Almost a hundred climate activists from the Greenpeace and Extinction Rebellion organizations stormed Amsterdam's Schiphol airport on Saturday and squatted on the runway in front of private jets' wheels to prevent them from taking off.

Another climate action took place near Schiphol Plaza, the airport's shopping area, with demonstrators carrying posters reading, "Restrict Aviation" and "More Trains".

According to a report from Global Witness, Latin America is on the frontline when it comes to deadly attacks on environmental campaigners and activists.
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According to data from Greenpeace-commissioned research organization CE Delft, more private planes took out from Schiphol and Rotterdam in the first nine months of this year than in the entire year of 2019, the year before the corona pandemic.

Flight data indicated that more than a third of those flights were less than 500 kilometers long, and nearly 11% were less than 250 kilometers long. The emissions per passenger on a private airplane are approximately five times that of a scheduled flight.

Another group of activists protested inside the airport’s terminal.