False: Greta Thunberg's arrest in Oslo was staged.

By: Christian Haag
March 2 2023

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Context

Claims have been made on social media that Greta Thunberg has been arrested in Oslo for blocking the entrance to ministry buildings and that the event was staged, similar to the events in Aachen, Germany, earlier this year. 

Claims about the staged arrest have been made on TikTok, Twitter and YouTube. One of the most viral tweets was posted by Ian Miles Cheong, who also spread the claim that the removal in Aachen in January was staged. 

In Fact

However, the claim is false. On March 1, Greta Thunberg was removed along with 9 others by police from the entrance to the Ministry of Finance. They were then released and moved on to the Ministry of Climate and Environment, where they chained themselves together in front of the entrance, where they were again removed by police. Logically contacted the Oslo Police District, who confirmed that Thunberg was not detained and that the event was not staged. Thunberg was only removed from the entrances of two ministries and guided to a different location along with the other protesters. Oslo Police stated, "It is important for the police that arrangements are made for freedom of expression, and that demonstrators get their message across without too much intervention from the police."

Since Thursday, February 24, activists from the Norwegian Sami Association Nourat and Youth and Nature, Norway's largest environmentalist youth organisation, have protested the development of two wind turbine arms in the Fosen peninsula in central Norway, which the Norwegian Supreme court ruled violated Sami rights under international conventions in 2021. The areas where the 151 turbines stand have traditionally been used by the Sami to herd reindeer. However, the turbines are still in operation. The group occupied the foyer of the Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy but were removed from the building during the night on Monday, taken to the police station, and then released. The protestors have since blocked access to several government buildings from the outside. There were also protests outside of the government buildings. 

Greta Thunberg joined the protestors from February 26 to February 27. Besides her campaigning for climate justice, Thunberg has also focused on how indigenous groups are caught in the middle between efforts to combat climate change. Thunberg told CNN that "Indigenous rights, human rights, must go hand-in-hand with climate protection and climate action. That can't happen at the expense of some people." 

Similar claims have been made before about the protest in Aachen, Germany, about Greta Thunberg's removal by police being staged. This claim was refuted by German police and fact-checked by Logically. 

Verdict

Logically has contacted Oslo Police District, who refute the claim. Therefore, we have marked this claim as false.