Climate activists block roads: can they be prosecuted?
Lawyer clarifies
Created: 11/04/2022, 12:09 p.m
By: Marc Dimitriu
Three days after the accident with a concrete mixer in Berlin, the critically injured cyclist died.
© Paul Zinken/dpa
Are the climate activists to blame for the death of a cyclist?
The debate is currently heated.
A lawyer explains the factual facts.
Berlin – The death of a cyclist in Berlin has put climate activists under pressure to justify themselves.
The cyclist was hit and run over by a truck in Berlin-Wilmersdorf last Monday.
The 44-year-old suffered such serious injuries that it has now been determined that she was dead.
Climate activists to blame for the death of the cyclist or driver due to the lack of an emergency lane?
The accident caused a nationwide stir and discussion.
According to the fire brigade, a special vehicle that was supposed to help free the injured person under the truck was stuck in a traffic jam on the city highway.
This is said to have been triggered by an action by the climate protest group "Last Generation".
But are the activists really to blame, or is it much more the fault of the drivers who didn't form a rescue lane?
According to a new report by the Berlin fire department, which is available in the
Süddeutsche Zeitung
, neither activists nor drivers are to blame in this case.
Because the emergency doctor on site would have decided against using the special vehicle anyway.
Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser had previously called for decisive action: "If crimes are committed and other people are endangered, every limit of legitimate protest is exceeded," the SPD politician told the German Press Agency in Berlin on Thursday.
“None of this has anything to do with a democratic debate.
The criminals must be prosecuted quickly and consistently.” The police union (GdP) also called for a legal ban on the “Last Generation” climate protest group to be examined.
In Munich, too, the group has recently started frequent protests.
Police are investigating two climate activists: imprisonment unlikely
The police are still investigating against two 63 and 59-year-old climate activists for failing to provide assistance or for the disability of people providing assistance.
The causal connection to the blockades must be checked - also with experts - according to the police.
The big question: Can the activists be held accountable?
Ulrike Paul, Vice President of the Federal Bar Association, told
ntv.de
that she thinks it is unlikely that climate activists will end up in prison in Germany.
Regardless of the pressure from politics and parts of society, the activists would have to commit a criminal offense that carries a prison sentence, according to the specialist lawyer for criminal law.
A conviction for dangerous interference in road traffic would also be possible, which according to
ntv.de
could mean five years in prison.
However, Paul explains;
"But only if the action of the activists was causal."
Climate activists block roads: can they be prosecuted?
Lawyer clarifies
This means that the cyclist should not have been life-threateningly injured by anything else and the emergency vehicle should not have been blocked by anything else.
As the lawyer emphasizes, the cause should undoubtedly be the taped hands, which makes it difficult to prove.
Because "it wasn't the activist group that rolled over the woman, but the concrete mixer."
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Life-threatening accident in Berlin: climate activist causes outrage with "Shit happens" tweet
Another possibility would be if it could be proved that the death occurred because the woman was delayed in taking her to the clinic.
"However, it could also be that the emergency vehicle was blocked because there was no rescue lane," Paul
told
ntv.de.
According to their own statements, the members of the "Last Generation" would always make sure to form a rescue lane.
In addition, the fire brigade admitted even before the new report that the lack of rescue lanes was a common problem on the Berlin city highway.
According to Paul, this makes it difficult to establish causality: “That will be the biggest problem with an indictment or even a conviction in the reported criminal offenses of bodily harm.”
Punishment for "Last Generation"?
fine possible
Lawyer Ulrike Paul explained that charges of coercion are also possible.
But for an activist with no criminal record, that would mean little more than a 20-30 daily fine and no jail time.
"That's maybe a month's salary.
But it will hardly deter the group from continuing.”
The Last Generation group also expressed dismay at the news of the woman's death.
"It hits us deeply that the cyclist, who was seriously injured in an accident by a concrete mixer in Berlin on Monday, has now been declared brain dead," said activist Henning Jeschke on Thursday when asked by dpa.
(md with dpa)
