The trial after the protest: climate activists in court in summary proceedings

Created: 11/30/2022, 7:06 p.m

By: Andreas Thieme

They stuck themselves on Munich's Sonnenstrasse on November 3 - now three climate activists have to answer in court.

© Lennart Preiss/dpa

On November 3, they were stuck on Sonnenstrasse in Munich.

Now three climate activists had to answer in court.

Munich – From Stachus to Stadelheim!

Three climate activists had to be in custody for almost a month - now they are on trial because they stuck to Sonnenstrasse on November 3rd (tz reported).

"Fight of our lives": Hundreds of meters of car queues after the protest

"We are in the fight of our lives and about to lose it," said Joel S. (23).

Like his comrades-in-arms Charlotte S. (25) and Lars W. (31), he criticizes that the federal government is doing too little “to protect people from a catastrophe”.

Therefore they would have glued themselves to the Stachus.

At 10:30 a.m. and 6:45 p.m. on November 3rd there were protest actions by the “last generation”.

Up to eight people had their hands glued to the road or to each other and had to be laboriously removed.

According to the police, queues of cars several hundred meters long formed.

The situation was only under control after midnight.

Because the activists were stopped by the police, but had announced further actions, they were taken to the Stadelheim prison for so-called preventive custody.

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Expedited trial: Activists did not resist detention

The trial yesterday was conducted as an accelerated trial at the district court, and the result was that the activists could have defended themselves against the detention legally and possibly prevented their stay in jail.

But they refrained from doing so - allegedly to set an example.

"I don't understand why you didn't appeal," the judge said.

The trio was only released on Saturday.

"I let myself be locked up in full consciousness to point out the existential crisis of our time," said Charlotte S. She accused the federal government of a "deadly course", Lars W. added: "People in 30 years will not understand why we are here in court and not the federal government".

Allegation of coercion: fine or several years in prison?

Harsh words from the activists who have to answer for coercion.

In court, it's not just about blocking traffic, but also about the fact that emergency services probably couldn't get through.

The activists claim that they took care to release a rescue lane.

A police officer disagrees: "Even if you wanted to call it a gap, it would have been too narrow for an ambulance.

I wouldn't have allowed traffic like that."

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The group chose the method of blocking the road with sticking "because it cannot be ignored," said Lars W. In comparable cases, fines have been imposed so far, but according to the law, coercion carries a prison sentence of up to three years.

The decisive factor is whether people were endangered.

The verdict had not yet been finalized at the time of going to press.

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