Climate Activists Arrested in Latest UK Airport Disruption
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Several climate activists were arrested Thursday after staging a protest at London’s Heathrow Airport, the latest such disruption by the Just Stop Oil group targeting airports.
Police said seven people were arrested after they blocked a “passenger search area” at Heathrow, Europe’s busiest airport, adding that “minimal disruption” was caused, AFP reported.
Just Stop Oil, which has planned or carried out at least four such protests in July, said 17 were arrested in relation to the action, with seven at the airport and at least ten elsewhere.
A picture posted by the group on social media showed several people blocking entry gates inside Heathrow Airport’s departure area, carrying orange slogans saying “oil kills” and “sign the treaty.”
The protests targeting aviation during the summer travel season are organized by climate groups from across Europe as part of the “Oil Kills” coalition.
They are demanding that governments sign an international treaty pledging to end oil, coal and gas extraction and burning by the end of the decade.
Earlier this week, two Just Stop Oil protesters were arrested for spraying Heathrow’s departure walls and boards with paint, and eight others for blocking gates at Gatwick Airport, the UK’s second busiest.
Heathrow and Gatwick airports previously obtained court orders to stop environmental activists from entering their grounds.