Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann dismisses UN special rapporteur Michel Forst's criticism of the Free State's relations with environmental activists as “absurd”. In Bavaria, freedom of assembly and expression are protected, the CSU politician told BR.
Everyone can express their opinion, which also applies to climate protection activists. But if a crime is announced as coercion or something similar, “then the police have to intervene”.
UN report criticizes preventive detention against “peaceful climate activists”
An article by the UN special rapporteur for environmentalists, Michel Forst, cites the Free State as a negative example, along with many other cases from across Europe in which states have restricted the right to demonstrate. His criticism of Bavaria: preventive detention was applied to many “peaceful climate activists”. Bavaria is mentioned in two places in the 20-page report. The “Süddeutsche Zeitung” first reported about this (external link – possibly paid content).
The basis for the special report to the United Nations is the so-called Aarhus Convention. Regulates the principles of public participation in environmental issues for 47 countries. Frenchman Michel Forst has worked on human rights issues for the United Nations for many years. In the 1990s he was director of the French section of Amnesty International.
Up to two months of preventive detention is possible
Over the past two years, “Last Generation” activists have also regularly blocked roads in Bavaria. In numerous cases, protest participants also ended up in pre-trial detention in order to avoid further crimes.
According to the Bavarian Law on Police Duties, the police may arrest a person if doing so is “indispensable to prevent the imminent commission or continuation of an administrative offense of significant importance for the general public or a criminal offense” or to avoid “a threat to an important legal interest”. A court decision is then necessary “immediately”. The deprivation of liberty can then last up to one month and then be extended for another month.
Herrmann: Strange understanding of peace
The Minister of the Interior, Herrmann, defends the use of preventive detention in the case of activists of the “last generation”. If someone has committed crimes and announces new crimes, the police cannot sit idly by.
The CSU politician accuses the UN special rapporteur of having a strange understanding of peace. “If I express my opinion on the street and shout loudly, then it will be peaceful. But if I block the streets, then it will no longer be peaceful.”
It is also not a peaceful demonstration if it has not been announced. Even the lack of an advertisement is a violation of applicable law. If an activist prevents others from moving forward, this could constitute a crime of coercion. The police have to take care of all of this – regardless of whether they are farmers or climate activists, Herrmann emphasized.
“Last Generation” warns against criminalization
Simon Lachner, one of the “Last Generation” speakers in Germany, believes it is absurd that a climate activist in Germany is “locked in cells”. Lachner himself was detained by Regensburg police last year as a precautionary measure after announcing another protest.
As early as August 2022, he and other “Last Generation” activists were glued to a painting by Rubens in the Alte Pinakothek in Munich. The action caused losses of more than 11 thousand euros. Lachner was then sentenced to a fine.
Today Lachner defends the Bavarian police officers: they are not the bad guys, emphasizes the Regensburg activist. On the contrary, it is the “system” that does not want to listen when it comes to the destruction of the basis of life.