UK police arrest almost 1000 in climate change protests

By Ahmet Gurhan Kartal</p> <p>LONDON (AA) – Nearly a thousand people have been arrested in London since an environmentalist protest has started a week ago, British police said Sunday.</p> <p>“40 people have been charged” in connection with an ongoing protest organized by the environmentalist group Extinction Rebellion, a police statement said, updating the total arrest number as 963.</p> <p>The protesters demand urgent action from the government to tackle climate change and ecological crisis.</p> <p>They have blocked some main and busy roads in London, which includes Waterloo Bridge, Oxford Street and the Parliament Square.</p> <p>Police said on Sunday that all sites but Waterloo Bridge have been opened for traffic.</p> <p>The protesters demand the government to acknowledge there is an environment crisis, enact legally binding policies to reduce carbon emission by 2025 and form citizens’ assembly to “oversee the changes” needed to achieve this goal.</p> <p>The group has vowed to increase the tone of their protest and they would be on the streets “as long as it takes.”</p> <p>London police issued a public order condition as of Monday evening, which means that protesters should leave the scene when they are asked to.</p> <p>The protesters do not resist to arrests and most of them are released in a few hours after giving statements at police stations.