Climate activists in trouble: Buschmann is examining penalties - Söder wants preventive arrest

The radical protest actions by climate activists are currently polarizing.

Demands for tougher sanctions are coming from politicians.

Berlin – They block streets, smear food on works of art and tape themselves to luxury cars.

With these actions, climate activists want to draw attention to the ongoing climate crisis and get politicians to act.

But the sometimes radical protest actions are met with rejection by many – especially in politics.

Federal Minister of Justice Marco Buschmann is now examining whether tougher punishments are necessary and Bavaria's Prime Minister Markus Söder even wants to introduce a nationwide preventive arrest for climate activists, as reported by kreiszeitung.de.

Daubing paintings with food – Buschmann examines the scope of punishment for radical climate activists

The debate about the legitimacy of radical climate protests continues.

It was not until Thursday, November 10, 2022, that there was heated discussion in the Bundestag about a possible increase in punishment for the activists.

"Climate protection is important, but it does not justify any crime," said the deputy chairwoman of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, Andrea Lindholz, according to the

.

Federal Minister of Justice Marco Buschmann is also examining whether tougher penalties are necessary in view of the numerous protests in art museums in which paintings were smeared with food.

In an interview with

, he said that his ministry would monitor closely how the judiciary dealt with attacks on cultural treasures.

“If I come to the conclusion that the legal framework is not sufficient, I will act.

I will have my house checked carefully to see whether we have a legal deficit here," said Buschmann.

Penalties for radical climate activists: "Anyone who throws works of art can be prosecuted for damage to property."

At the beginning of November, the Federal Minister of Justice

told

A roadblock can be punished as coercion.

And if ambulances are slowed down, criminal liability for negligent bodily harm can also be considered.” He was referring to a delayed rescue operation in Berlin that was allegedly triggered by a road blockade by climate activists and ended fatally for a woman.

According to Buschmann, in addition to fines, the law also provides for imprisonment in certain cases.

These laws also need to be enforced.

In the current interview with

, he also said that in an open society everyone is allowed to promote their concerns, criticize things and demonstrate - but: "Throwing food at art has little to do with it.

Anyone who attacks and endangers our cultural treasures crosses a red line," said the FDP politician.

The CDU state chief Christoph Ploß is also calling for tougher penalties for climate activists in Hamburg.

As a precaution, Söder wants to send radical climate activists to prison across Germany

Bavaria's Prime Minister and CSU boss Markus Söder goes one step further to limit the radical climate protests: he wants to send the protesters to prison nationwide as a precaution.

This is already possible in Bavaria.

There, the police can take people into preventive custody for up to 30 days after a district court decision – twice in a row.

According to

, the law was originally introduced as a means against Islamist threats.

According to the report, a good two dozen climate activists are currently in prison in Bavaria “to prevent further announced blockade actions and criminal offenses”.

Söder would like to extend this rule to all federal states and told the

: "We need a clear line throughout Germany."

Criticism of Dobrindt's statement - but Söder does not consider the RAF comparison of climate activists to be inappropriate

How little Söder apparently thinks of the radical protest actions is made clear by the Prime Minister in another way: Just like CSU regional group leader Alexander Dobrindt, he sees a danger that climate activists could become a "climate RAF".

Only recently Dobrindt had called for the emergence of a "climate RAF" to be prevented - and received plenty of criticism for the choice of term.

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"There is always a danger that with a large movement, a small core will start to become more aggressive and radical," but Söder also told the newspapers of the

when asked whether "Climate RAF" was also his choice of words and continued : “Alexander Dobrindt pointed out a phenomenon and warned what could develop from it.

The vast majority of Germans think road blockades are wrong.”

Last Generation Climate Activist Says: "Take to the Streets to Save Lives"

While the RAF murdered more than 30 people in its terrorist attacks and hostage-taking, climate activists from the group "Last Generation" rigorously reject violence against people.

“We take to the streets to protect lives.

We don't want to endanger lives," explains Carla Rochel, a member of the climate group, in an interview with

.

In doing so, she answered the question of whether, in view of the accident in Berlin, one had to accept collateral damage in the fight against climate change.

She justifies the radial actions like this: “We're doing this because we're racing into the middle of a collapse.

Because we are racing towards the collapse of our civilization as we know it,” adding: “Our limit is that we are peaceful and non-violent.” In addition to serious environmental consequences, climate change also has major impacts on human health – especially those of children.