Lützerath activists entrench themselves in tunnels - the police want to complete the evacuation "today".
Created: 01/13/2023Updated: 01/13/2023 09:53
By: Fabian Mueller
Environmental activist Luisa Neubauer is carried away by police officers during a sit-in in Lützerath.
© Federico Gambarini/dpa
During the protests in Lützerath, there were clashes between activists and the police.
The eviction will continue on Friday.
The news ticker.
Habeck
criticizes protests: "Lützerath is simply the wrong symbol".
Police discover
tunnel
in
Lützerath
: Two activists are said to be underground on Friday.
Activist
Luisa Neubauer
carried away by the police:
the sit-
in is dissolved.
This
news ticker
on the
clearance of Lützerath
is updated regularly.
Update from January 13, 9.45 a.m .:
According to their own statements, the police want to largely complete the evacuation in Lützerath this Friday.
"We want to clear all structures as quickly as possible, if possible today," said a police spokesman for the dpa.
Two activists are still holding out in one of the underground tunnels.
It is unclear whether their evacuation will also succeed today.
The entrance to the tunnel was largely blocked off on Friday morning.
In addition to police officers, firefighters were also on site.
Habeck criticizes protests: "Lützerath is simply the wrong symbol"
Climate Protection Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) meanwhile criticized the activists.
He has little understanding for the massive protests.
“There are many good reasons to demonstrate for more climate protection, including against the Greens.
But Lützerath is simply the wrong symbol," he told
Spiegel
.
Lützerath is not the symbol for continuing the Garzweiler opencast lignite mine in the Rhineland, but "it's the end of the line," said Habeck.
The coal phase-out in the local coal mining area is preferred by eight years to 2030, which was always the goal of the climate movement.
"The agreement gives us planning security," explained the climate protection minister.
Climate Protection Minister Robert Habeck reprimanded the protests in Lützerath.
(Archive image) © Kay Nietfeld/dpa
Police discover tunnel in Lützerath: Two activists are said to be underground
Update from January 13, 7.40 a.m .:
According to the police, the night passed quietly in the Lützerath settlement occupied by climate activists.
Activists are still holding out in an underground tunnel, a police spokesman said on Friday.
According to activists, there are two people in the tunnel.
The two were determined to chain themselves as soon as an attempt was made to get them out, said a spokeswoman for the "Lützerath Lives" initiative on Friday morning.
According to their own statements, the police discovered underground passages in Lützerath on Thursday.
In one there were people, it was said.
A spokesman explained that one had no eye contact with the people, but could speak to them.
The technical relief agency tried to get the activists out that night, but ended the operation later.
It was initially unclear when a new attempt would be made.
According to "Lützerath Leben" the people are a good four meters deep.
There is a "ventilation system".
Meanwhile, activists protested in front of the RWE headquarters in Essen on Friday morning.
According to them, several of them chained themselves to the entrance gate.
A police spokesman said the RWE security service had reported an incident to them.
"We're on our way," they said.
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Lützerath clearance: underground tunnels cause problems
Update from January 13, 6:30 a.m.:
On the third day of the evacuation of Lützerath for lignite mining, the police this Friday will focus on activists who have entrenched themselves in underground passages.
“We don't know how stable these underground soil structures are.
We also don't know what the air supply is like there," said Aachen police chief Dirk Weinspach on Thursday evening on WDR.
The situation is correspondingly dangerous.
On Friday night, the Technical Relief Agency ended its mission without getting the activists out of the tunnel.
In addition, the police want to clear a last occupied house on Friday.
During the night, the climate activists endured heavy rain, strong winds and temperatures below ten degrees.
The police initially did not clear further.
There were still numerous police officers on site.
According to a police spokesman, however, they only wanted to become active at night when activists had to be freed from potentially dangerous situations.
The occupiers of the place, which is to make way for lignite mining, reported on Thursday on social networks about a tunnel and warned the police not to drive into the area with heavy equipment.
The police confirmed that there are at least two tunnels.
However, there are only activists in one.
So far, the police have not been able to get hold of them.
Special forces from RWE and the Federal Agency for Technical Relief would now have to take care of "how the rescue can be carried out in a suitable manner," said Weinspach.
"It will also be important to proceed very carefully and not take any risks." It is not foreseeable how much the clearance of the site could be delayed as a result.
During the night of Friday, the evacuation initially continued in the dark.
"Objects that have been addressed are still being processed," said a police spokesman.
Activists who had cemented themselves in or chained themselves were also freed despite the darkness.
"In such cases, we have to provide help," said the spokesman.
Update from January 12, 8:44 p.m .:
According to Aachen police chief Dirk Weinspach, the clearing of the lignite town of Lützerath is well advanced.
"The clearing of the above-ground structures is largely complete," he said on Thursday evening on WDR.
“We cleared almost all the houses except for one.
The meadow has been cleared, most of the tree houses have been cleared.
In this respect, there is not that much left," he said about the current status of the Lützerath eviction.
Eviction in Lützerath: activists hide in tunnels
How long the operation of the Lützerath evacuation, during which Luisa Neubauer was dragged away by police officers during a sit-in blockade, will continue, cannot be said.
The evacuation could be delayed by underground passages that were discovered on Thursday.
According to the police, there are still activists there.
“It is not foreseeable how long the evacuation from the underground soil structures will take.
It will also be important to proceed very carefully and not take any risks, ”said the police chief about the activists who are hiding in tunnels and delaying the further eviction of Lützerath.
Lützerath evacuation: police vehicle on fire
Update from January 12, 8:09 p.m .:
On the edge of the Lützerath clearance and the police operation in the lignite town, a civil emergency vehicle caught fire.
"We are definitely assuming arson," said a police spokesman on Thursday.
The civil emergency vehicle was parked near the protest camp in the neighboring town of Keyenberg and was clearly recognizable as a police car thanks to a blue light on the roof.
It is assumed that the perpetrators smashed the window and poured a flammable liquid into the car.
It was initially unclear whether suspects could be identified.
Lützerath occupation: police operation continues in the dark
Update from January 12, 7:52 p.m .:
In the lignite town of Lützerath, the clearance continues on Thursday evening, even in the dark.
"Objects that have been addressed are still being processed," said a police spokesman.
Activists who had cemented themselves in or chained themselves were also freed despite the darkness.
"In such cases we have to provide help," said the spokesman for the ongoing Lützerath evacuation and further explained the current situation during the operation against the protests.
However, it is not planned to clear other buildings during the night.
Parts of Lützerath were brightly lit by searchlights.
Trees were felled and bushes removed, as reported by a dpa reporter.
Wooden houses were also demolished in the dark.
Lützerath-News: Climate activist Neubauer is carried away by the police - police officer injured
First report:
Lützerath - Climate activist Luisa Neubauer was carried away by police officers from the access road to the lignite town of Lützerath during the course of the Lützerath clearance.
Neubauer had gathered there on Thursday (January 12) with around 100 activists for a sit-in.
The participants in the Lützerath occupation were surrounded by the police and gradually carried away or taken away.
Finally, three officers also carried Fridays for Future activist Neubauer away with their multi-purpose sticks.
Lützerath eviction: activist Luisa Neubauer is carried away by police officers
"We want to stay here until we are carried away," Neubauer had previously told the dpa news agency during the eviction in Lützerath.
A police spokesman explained the current development of the Lützerath occupation that the participants were on their way to the edge of the opencast mine.
This was dangerous and had to be prevented by the police.
According to Neubauer, the police occasionally used pepper spray against activists during the protest in Lützerath.
The spokesman said he could neither confirm nor rule it out.
A total of several hundred people took part in a demonstration march from the village of Keyenberg in the direction of Lützerath, about four kilometers away.
Eviction in Lützerath: Policewoman injured in demo use of firecrackers
Meanwhile, a policewoman was slightly injured by a firecracker on Thursday.
The officer was hit in the leg, but was able to remain on duty, said a police spokesman about what happened as a result of the evacuation in Lützerath.
"Please refrain from any pelting by emergency services - this is not a peaceful protest!
We will consistently report every attack!” wrote the police, who probably used RWE trucks for the evacuation in Lützerath, on Twitter for use against the protests in Lützerath, in which climate activists even embed themselves in concrete.
Why should Lützerath be evacuated?
Below the village of Lützerath, which belongs to the North Rhine-Westphalian town of Erkelenz, there are large lignite deposits.
In 1995 the region was approved as a mining field.
Originally, around 100 residents lived in the village, most of whom sold their houses and properties many years ago or were compensated.
The land now belongs to the energy supplier RWE.
The group has earmarked the area for the Garzweiler opencast mine.
The residents of Lützerath have been resettled since 2006, and demolition work has been underway in the town since 2020.
On Friday, during the clearing of the Rhenish lignite town of Lützerath, the symbolic houses of the former residents should come into focus.
So far, excavators have only razed the activists' wooden huts and barricades to the ground.
However, the houses in Lützerath have not yet been demolished.
Video: Eviction in Lützerath continues: Storm causes activists to create
Lützerath currently: Activists must give up the occupation of the symbolic Duisserner Hof
On Thursday morning, the squatters had to give up the symbolic Duisserner Hof as a result of the Lützrath evacuation.
The building had become a powerful symbol of resistance to the Garzweiler lignite opencast mine: the owner had resisted expropriation to the last and had become known as the "last farmer from Lützerath".
The evacuation also began in a second building, the so-called Paulahof with a rainbow flag painted on the facade.
The residents who got in left the place years ago.
The Lützerath buildings are now owned by the energy company RWE, which intends to mine the lignite beneath the site to generate electricity.
(dpa/fmü)