The police carried out a vast operation on Wednesday against the most radical environmental movement in Germany, “Last Generation”, author of several controversial civil disobedience operations and publicly criticized this week by Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
Police officers “searched fifteen places throughout the territory”, due to “suspicions of offenses committed by members of the Last Generation”, as part of an investigation for “training or support of a criminal organization”, a said the Munich public prosecutor’s office.
Seven members of this collective, aged 22 to 38, are targeted by this procedure, he added. In detail, they are accused of having “advertised on the Internet” and “organized” “fundraisers”, to the tune of “1.4 million euros” (approximately $2 million CA) for take illegal actions.
Two members of “Last Generation” are suspected of having “attempted in April 2022 to sabotage the Trieste-Ingolstadt pipeline”, an oil pipeline passing through Bavaria, considered “essential infrastructure” by the German authorities.
The searches took place in “seven German regions”, in particular in Berlin, Bavaria and Hesse, according to the prosecution.
“Accounts have been seized and assets have been confiscated”, he said, stressing that the procedure was initiated “following numerous criminal complaints filed by the population since the middle of 2022”.
“Totally stupid”
“When will the lobbies be raided, and the government’s fossil fuel money seized?” “, reacted the collective, which must express itself in more detail during a press conference in the middle of the day.
“Last Generation” is the most prominent environmental collective in Germany today. He has drawn attention in recent months for his actions of civil disobedience aimed at pushing the government to step up the fight against climate change.
Its members have repeatedly stuck their hands on the asphalt of major highways to stop traffic or projected different substances on paintings in museums.
Hundreds of legal proceedings are already underway for their actions, considered to constitute a disturbance of public order.
Recently, the Heilbronn court sentenced three activists to five, four and three months in prison, the harshest penalties imposed so far for this kind of act.
These actions anger Olaf Scholz’s team, which claims to have done more than any other previous government to counter global warming. The Chancellor said this week that he found it “totally silly to stick to a painting or a road” during a visit to a school in Brandenburg.
Even the Greens, members of the coalition, expressed their opposition, believing that these methods did not make it possible to rally the population behind the climate cause. “On the contrary, it irritates people, divides society,” according to the Minister of Economy and Climate, environmentalist Robert Habeck.
discrepancies
Activists from groups like “Last Generation” argue that their protests are essential in the face of action by the authorities, which they consider insufficient to fight against climate change.
Berlin has ambitious climate targets but activists doubt its ability to meet commitments, such as producing 80% of electricity from renewables by 2030.
The Council of Climate Experts, responsible for evaluating the government’s action, also issued a report in mid-April in which it considers that Germany risks not achieving its CO2 emission reduction targets.
Beyond Germany, symbolic actions of civil disobedience by similar environmental groups have multiplied in recent months across Europe.
Dozens of activists thus caused a temporary interruption of air traffic in Geneva on Tuesday, where they chained themselves to private jets for about an hour.
In Rome, others colored the basin of the famous Trevi Fountain black, saying the death of 14 people in the floods that devastated northeastern Italy was a warning of climate change.