Protesters disrupt flame event in Greece
ANCIENT OLYMPIA: Three activists protesting human rights abuses in China broke into the archaeological site where the flame lighting ceremony for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics was being held on Monday and ran toward the Temple of Hera holding a banner that read “No Genocide Games”.
The protesters climbed over a fence to enter the grounds and attempted to reach the area where the ceremony was being held. They were thrown to the ground by police and detained.
“How can Beijing be allowed to host the Olympics given that they are committing a genocide against the Uighurs?” one protester said as she ran towards the temple.
The flame was lit at the Greek birthplace of the ancient Olympics under heavy police security.
With the public excluded amid pandemic safety measures, and a cloudless sky over the verdant site of Ancient Olympia, the flame was ceremoniously kindled using the rays of the sun before being carried off on a mini torch relay.
Earlier, other protesters were detained by Greek police before they could reach the site. Pro-democracy protests also had broken out during the lighting ceremony for the 2008 Beijing Summer Games.
Despite widespread international criticism of China’s human rights record, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has shied away from the issue, saying it falls outside its remit. In his speech in the ancient stadium of Olympia, IOC president Thomas Bach stressed that the modern Games must be “respected as politically neutral ground”.
“Only this political neutrality ensures that the Olympic Games can stand above and beyond the political differences that exist in our times,” he said. “The Olympic Games cannot address all the challenges in our world. But they set an example for a world where everyone respects the same rules and one another.”
Beijing will become the first city to have hosted both Winter and Summer Olympics. In a performance shortly afterwards, a Greek actress played the part of a priestess knelt to light the Olympic flame.