The accusation is of formation or support of a criminal organization and is being investigated against seven suspects who are between 22 and 38 years old. There were no arrests. According to investigators, two of the suspects are suspected of having tried to sabotage the Trieste-Ingolstadt pipeline in April 2022.
Among other things, the apartment of “Last Generation” spokeswoman Carla Hinrichs was searched. The door was broken down by more than 25 police officers, the group later explained. They broke into her room, where she was still lying in bed, “with a gun drawn”.
Raids across Germany in “Last Generation”
German police and prosecutors officers searched objects belonging to the “Last Generation” climate protection group in seven federal states on Wednesday. A total of 15 objects were searched, as announced by the Munich Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Bavarian State Criminal Police Department.
According to the Public Ministry, the investigations and searches are based on numerous criminal charges. The group regularly draws attention to the fatal consequences of global warming with protests and actions in museums. Members often stick to it – on the streets and in museums. In Austria too, activists regularly block morning traffic, among other things, to draw attention to their demands.
demonstration in berlin
A few hundred supporters demonstrated on Wednesday night against the authorities’ actions. They followed a call from the group, which called for demonstrations in Berlin, Hamburg, Dresden and Hanover via Twitter. Berlin police spoke to about 300 participants. Protesters walked slowly down the street towards the Brandenburg Gate.
“Last Generation” spokeswoman Hinrichs said on the sidelines of the demonstration that, personally, she now feared the state might simply invade her room and take her things with her. The fact that the group is being criminalized will not stop them from resisting misguided climate protection policies. The “Last Generation” had also posted a video reporting Hinrichs on Twitter.
APA/dpa/Christoph Soeder The police started the operation at dawn
Interior Ministry defends operation
Meanwhile, German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) defended the attack. “Today’s measures show that the rule of law cannot be deceived,” said Faeser of the Funke media group. “The police and the judiciary do not accept crimes, but they act – as is their duty,” she added.
“The red line in the rule of law is very clear – legitimate protests always end when crimes are committed and the rights of others are violated,” says Faeser. “If that red line is crossed, then the police have to act.” With regard to roadblocks, for example, Faeser showed “not having the slightest understanding of these actions and the crimes committed”.
Solidarity with other climate protection groups
Climate protection activists reacted with harsh criticism. The group “Ende Gelände” criticized on Twitter that there were attacks against those “who warn about the climate crisis and not against those responsible for it”. The “Last Generation” itself asked on Twitter when the lobby structures would be searched and the “fossil government funds” confiscated. “Extinction Rebellion” activists also sympathized with the accused. “We just stop the lobbies and corporations together,” the environmental activists wrote on Twitter on Wednesday and voiced their support.
According to the police and the Attorney General’s Office, the central allegation related to the searches is that the defendants organized a fundraising campaign to finance new “last generation” crimes and thus raised at least 1.4 million euros. According to previous knowledge, this money was “predominantly used also for the commission of other crimes”. Where the money came from is the subject of the investigation. Police did not say how much was seized. The purpose of the searches was also “to find evidence of membership structure,” he said.
There were searches in seven federal states, specifically in Hesse in the district of Fulda, in Hamburg, Saxony-Anhalt (Magdeburg), Saxony (Dresden), Bavaria (Augsburg and Munich), Berlin and in the district of Segeberg in Schleswig-Holstein. According to initial information, the operations were peaceful. The group’s website was also confiscated and closed by order of prosecutors.
APA/dpa/Christoph Soeder According to the police, the operations were peaceful and without resistance
Aggressions and attacks against climate protectors
In recent weeks, the environment for activists has become extremely difficult. Angry drivers frequently hit and kicked protesters and violently dragged them off the street, and the Potsdam District Court confirmed initial suspicions that the group might be a criminal organization for the first time. This week, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was also extremely critical and called the group’s actions “completely crazy”.
German raid against “Last Generation”
On behalf of the Munich Public Prosecutor’s Office, 170 police officers searched “state-of-the-art” apartments and commercial establishments in seven German federal states. Seven suspects are being investigated, including the group’s spokeswoman.
The “Last Generation” in Germany initially called for a “Law to Save Meals” against food waste. The current requirements are 100 km/h on motorways and a permanent ticket of nine euros on public transport.
Investigators: No “terrorist group” suspected
Investigations are based at the Bavarian Central Office for Combating Extremism and Terrorism. However, a spokesman for the Public Prosecutor’s Office in Munich stressed that this does not mean that the “last generation” is classified as extremists or terrorists. “Based on the current state of the investigation, we assume it is a criminal organization – mind you, not a terrorist organization,” the spokesman said. We want this to be verified in court.
debate
Why is climate activism so polarizing?
The German police union welcomed the searches. “The judiciary is acting, that’s the sure sign of a defensive constitutional state,” said union boss Rainer Wendt in Berlin. Greenpeace board member Martin Kaiser called the action “completely disproportionate”. It cannot be that concerned people working for more climate protection are criminalized.
Left-wing Vice President Lorenz Gösta Beutin called the attacks completely exaggerated. People who considered themselves of the “last generation” resorted to peaceful civil disobedience to draw attention to the climate catastrophe and the failure of the federal government. Education Minister Bettina Stark-Watzinger (FDP) wrote on Twitter: “Climate protection is a real and urgent concern. Climate protection against the rule of law, but not against democracy and people.”
religion
“Father of the Climate” continues to defend himself from punishment
New police operation against climate protection camp
Also near Bramsche in Lower Saxony, police moved on Wednesday to a raid on a camp of activists protesting the planned clearing of a forest for a highway. The Osnabrück police and public prosecutor announced that the search was related to investigations into “various crimes” for which the camp’s residents were allegedly responsible. Among other things, this concerns damage to high seats for hunting.
In addition, according to their own statements, the police and the public prosecutor are investigating the arson in an excavator and the illegal cutting of trees, which would have been built in the camp later. The purpose of the searches is to find “stolen evidence and property” and identify possible suspects. The evacuation of the camp was not “explicitly” planned, he said.
According to their own statements, the activists have been occupying the forest between Bramsche and Wallenhorst for almost a year. They set up a tree house camp to protest the continued construction of Autobahn 33. This is to be connected to the A1 in the area north of Osnabrück. According to activists, the forests will be cleared for this purpose.