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Use in the Dannenröder forest: activist refused to leave the barricade
Photo: Boris Roessler / dpa
In the course of the planned evacuation of escape routes, the first major confrontation between police and activists took place in the Dannenröder forest near Homberg / Ohm in Hesse.
When the police tried to dismantle a frame made of tree trunks, an activist descended on it on Wednesday.
To the applause of dozens of fellow campaigners, she remained on a small seat for hours until she was brought down by special forces.
The aim of the police evictions was to remove barricades from the rescue and access routes.
An evacuation of the tree houses in which the activists have set up, however, was not planned.
According to the police, two people were arrested during the operation.
They had previously tried to get a crane vehicle, it said.
Objects were also thrown on the forest path to burst the tires of emergency vehicles.
64 hectares of forest are to be felled
Part of the Dannenröder forest is to be cleared for the expansion of Autobahn 49.
The expansion of the A49 between Kassel and Gießen has been occupying local residents and conservationists for more than 40 years.
The focus of the protests is a planned 43-kilometer section between Stadtallendorf and Gemünden an der Felda, where the state plans to connect the motorway to the A5.
It is planned that around 64 hectares of forest will be felled from October, 27 hectares of which will be in Dannenröder Forest.
There had already been several protests in the past few days.
The Hessian CDU parliamentary group spoke out in favor of expanding the A49.
"By closing the gap, the region as a whole will move closer to the Rhine-Main area," said parliamentary group leader Ines Claus.
She called for peaceful and non-violent protests.
The green coalition partner pointed out on Wednesday that the planning was the "result of a long, democratic process based on the rule of law".
The Greens have "always spoken out against further construction," said Greens parliamentary group leader Mathias Wagner.
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fek / dpa / AFP