Klimax (Sweden): climate activists in detention after trying to break into airport

On Friday 15th of February, groups of activists connected to Klimax, Sweden’s direct action movement against the root causes of climate change, struck against the country’s domestic aviation industry.

At Malmö Airport, seven activists were apprehended trying to break into the runway, some of them dressed as polar bears. They were transferred to a detention centre in another city in southern Sweden and kept in solitary confinement for more than 60 hours. The seven activists were interrogated throughout the days, charged with 'intent to sabotage air traffic' and threatened with four years in prison if convicted.

"It’s totally absurd to place people in solitary confinement for more than two days when they've done nothing but attempting to cross a fence, in a peaceful, symbolic action. The activists did what everyone should do: they tried to stop climate change from accelerating. With their heavy-handed repression, the police are trying to deter us from further direct action, but we vow to step up our struggle. Since the police succeeded in nabbing the activists in Malmö this time, we will have to be more creative when planning our next actions," says Shora Esmailian, media spokesperson for Klimax.

Also on Friday, scores of activists entered the terminals at Bromma Airport in Stockholm and Landvetter Airport outside of Gothenburg. Many were dressed as polar bears and penguins. The demonstrations were followed by die-ins in front of queuing passengers. In Uppsala, a city north of Stockholm, yet another Klimax group staged a protest against a planned local airport.

On Saturday, activists in Stockholm broke into a police station to demand the immediate release of their comrades in Malmö, and a solidarity manifestation was held in Gothenburg. All in all, more than a hundred activists were involved in the coordinated activities over the weekend.

Late on Sunday, the last remaining Malmö-activist was released from the detention centre. All seven activists will face trial, as will another group of activists who successfully seized the runway at Bromma Airport in April last year.

Klimax is a rapidly growing movement in Sweden. In Stockholm, the group has focused on an upcoming decision to extend the premises of Bromma Airport to the year 2038, allowing it to increase traffic with at least 20 percent. The contract, due for final approval in March, will be impossible to abrogate if politicians elected in Stockholm in the coming decades wish to do so: it can only be annulled by the national government. This is considered deeply undemocratic by Klimax, but even worse, Bromma Airport is now poised to continue propelling domestic flights to Gothenburg, Malmö and other destinations well covered by railway connections, thus increasing unnecessary carbon emissions at a time when they have to be slashed.

The aviation industry already accounts for at least 10 percent of Sweden’s carbon emissions, according to estimates from the Royal Institute of Technology, and its share is growing. Klimax is determined to fight this wholly irrational development until Sweden’s domestic aviation is abolished in its entirety, as a first necessary step to a fossil-free society.