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Demonstrators protest in front of the State Chancellery in 2018 against the policies of NRW Prime Minister Laschet
Photo: Rolf Vennenbernd / picture alliance / Rolf Vennenbernd / dpa
The police operation in the Hambach Forest three years ago is a political issue - and is also following Armin Laschet in the election campaign for chancellorship. Only a few days ago the Cologne Administrative Court ruled that the eviction of the tree houses in the Hambach Forest by the city of Kerpen was illegal. The court ruled that the fire protection provisions mentioned at the time as justification had only been a pretext. Ultimately, the action served to remove opponents of lignite from the forest - a point for the climate activists who had sued against the eviction.
But the NRW Prime Minister Armin Laschet does not want to let that sit on him.
"So I am surprised that the court (...) evaluates the subject of fire protection the way it evaluates it," said the Union's candidate for chancellor on Deutschlandfunk on Sunday.
That is why one will »have to check that again«.
He pointed out that the judgment is not yet final.
“When courts decide, so be it.
But it seems to me that the decision of the building minister to instruct the municipalities to provide fire protection is justified. "
After the court decision, the parties involved can submit an application for admission of the appeal.
The Higher Administrative Court in Münster would decide on this.
So the legal battle is likely to continue.
Laschet apparently thinks little of the verdict: "It is actually obvious to every normal person that if you build houses in the middle of a forest and have stoves and electricity there, there is a risk of fire protection," said Laschet.
“We only had a case nine months ago that there was a fire in one of the tree houses, someone was seriously injured, the rescue workers could barely get into the forest over all the barricades that were there, and then with great difficulty could be brought to the university hospital in Aachen to save his life. "
Just months after the decision, however, a secretly recorded video by activists emerged in which Laschet admitted that the fire protection was an excuse to clear the forest.
After the court ruling, the SPD opposition in North Rhine-Westphalia is now also demanding a statement from the state government in the interior committee of the state parliament.
The SPD parliamentary group had made a corresponding application, said domestic policy spokesman Hartmut Ganzke on Sunday.
The Hambach Forest, which lies on the edge of the lignite mine, was and is a symbol of the conflict between climate protectors and the coal industry.
In September 2018, a massive police presence moved to clear the tree houses that had been built in the forest by coal opponents over the years.
The state government had instructed the city of Kerpen and the district of Düren to evacuate - security deficiencies were cited as the reason.
At that time, the energy company RWE still wanted to clear the Hambach Forest.
It is now planned that the forest area will be preserved.
sug / dpa