Greta Thunberg arrested, later bailed, at London Palestine protest

LONDON: Swedish activist Greta Thunberg was released from custody after being arrested on Tuesday in London at a pro-Palestinian protest, police said.

UK-based campaign group Prisoners for Palestine said Greta Thunberg was earlier arrested under the Terrorism Act for holding a sign that said “I support the Palestine Action prisoners. I oppose genocide”. The British government has proscribed Palestine Action as a terrorist group.

City of London Police said Greta Thunberg had been bailed until March.

Police said earlier two other people had been arrested for throwing red paint at a building. A spokesperson said 22-year-old woman later attended the scene and was arrested for displaying a placard in support of a proscribed organisation.

Prisoners for Palestine, which supports some detained activists who have gone on hunger strike, said the building had been targeted because it was used by an insurance firm which they said provided services to the British arm of Israeli defence firm Elbit Systems.

The insurance company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Greta Thunberg, 22, became prominent after staging weekly climate protests in front of the Swedish parliament in 2018.

Last year, she was cleared of a public order offence in Britain as a judge ruled police had no power to arrest her and others at a protest in London the year before.

She was detained along with 478 people and expelled by Israel in October after joining an activist convoy of vessels, the Global Sumud Flotilla, that attempted to reach Gaza with aid supplies.