In Germany, climate activists are taking to the streets against the eviction of the German city of Lützerath, which carries brown coal. According to police estimates, around 800 people took part in the demonstration from the Erkelenz district of Keyenberg towards Lützerath, which is about four kilometers away. The action was supported by several initiatives.
[11:51] Successful escape from the demo recorded in the direction of Lützi. 💪 Various sit-ins on the Strabag dirt road.
Freedom of the press is once again restricted: the police deny Lützi any press access and withdraw his accreditation for no reason. How can be? pic.twitter.com/h4bmsAaKQn— Lützerath stock ticker (@LuetziTicker22) January 12, 2023
Among the participants was “Fridays for Future” activist Luisa Neubauer. She carried a sign that read “Climate protection is manual labor”. The activists were surrounded by police on an access road to the lignite city. “We want to stay here until we’re taken away,” said Neubauer of the dpa.
Immediately before the demonstration began, Neubauer accused the police of his actions during the eviction. The fact that the police continued the evacuation in the dark and during the night is dangerous and incomprehensible, she told journalists.
Police announce demolition work in Lützerath
The police, however, announced demolition work and the felling of trees. These are carried out by RWE, the group owns the village. If police declare an area safe, work will begin, an RWE spokesman said.
He declined to say where the demolition work will take place. However, massive buildings are unlikely to be affected by demolition work as quickly because there are still people there. A first tree house had already been dismantled and the trees felled yesterday. This work continued on the second day of the evacuation.
A large contingent of police began clearing the lignite site occupied by activists yesterday. The settlement must be demolished in order to extract the coal deposits below. Climate activists want to stop this. The energy company RWE built a double fence around Lützerath to keep out unauthorized people.