Court fines 29 activists for breaking into Swedish nuclear plant site

Sweden fines activists for nuclear plant break-in

STOCKHOLM — A Swedish court has ordered 29 Greenpeace activists to pay fines of up to 17,000 kronor ($2,200) each for breaking into the grounds of a nuclear energy plant.

The Uppsala District Court on Thursday convicted the demonstrators of trespassing for climbing a fence of the Forsmark power station in central Sweden last month.

The Greenpeace activists included 13 Germans and eight Poles, as well as demonstrators from Britain, France and Nordic countries. The organization said they had been protesting Sweden’s plan to allow old reactors to be replaced with new ones.

In 1980, Swedes voted to phase out the use of nuclear energy, but the current center-right coalition has overturned the decision.