Sami rights activists in Norway charged over protests against wind farm affecting reindeer herding

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — A lawyer says some 20 activists have been charged after they blocked several entrances to Norwegian government offices over a wind farm that they say hinders the rights of the Sami Indigenous people to raise reindeer. The exact charge is not known. At the center of the dispute are the 151 turbines of Europe’s largest onshore wind farm, north of the capital, Oslo. Activists have demonstrated repeatedly against the wind farm’s continued operation since the Supreme Court of Norway ruled in October 2021 that the construction of the turbines had violated the rights of the Sami. The activists say a transition to green energy shouldn’t come at the expense of the rights of Indigenous people.