Swedish police on Sunday arrested six Greenpeace activists who had illegally entered an oil port in western Sweden, where three of the protesters scaled harbour cranes.
The six were suspected of trespassing a protected area, police spokesman Peter Adlersson said, adding that the activists did not resist arrest.
The incident at the Brofjorden oil port, Sweden's largest, was part of a Greenpeace protest against plans by Swedish oil company Preem to expand their refinery in nearby Lysekil.
Isadora Wronski, head of Greenpeace Sweden, said the six female activists were nationals of Finland, Norway and Sweden, and were trained and equipped for scaling industrial objects.
Greenpeace said they wanted the Swedish government, led by Prime Minister Stefan Lofven, a Social Democrat, to stop the expansion plan. Members of the Greens, junior partner in Lofven's coalition, oppose the expansion.
"We hope Stefan Lofven takes his responsibility, amid the climate crisis," Wronskie said.
The Greenpeace protest was winding down, she added. Late Thursday, its vessel, the Rainbow Warrior, temporarily blocked a shipping channel to the oil port, preventing oil tankers from docking or leaving.
Increase in carbon emissions
Maritime authorities reopened the shipping channel late Friday, but the Rainbow Warrior remained near the port.
Conservationists warn of a large increase in carbon dioxide emissions if the expansion of the refinery goes ahead.
In June, the Land and Environmental Court of Appeal said Preem's plans were in line with the law.
Preem says the expansion is necessary to upgrade high-sulphur heavy oil to sulphur-free gasoline and diesel, and is part of Preem's plans to phase out fossil fuels.
