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Lützerath evacuation: Operation continues in the dark - Neubauer criticizes the police

2023-01-13T15:14:35.653Z


Lützerath evacuation: Operation continues in the dark - Neubauer criticizes the police Created: 01/13/2023 16:04 By: Martina Lippl, Kai Hartwig, Lucas Maier The village of Lützerath at the Garzweiler opencast lignite mine is to be evacuated. Climate activists want to prevent that. The police are examining evidence of a tunnel system. Activists stick themselves in tree houses in Lützerath : few


Lützerath evacuation: Operation continues in the dark - Neubauer criticizes the police

Created: 01/13/2023 16:04

By: Martina Lippl, Kai Hartwig, Lucas Maier

The village of Lützerath at the Garzweiler opencast lignite mine is to be evacuated.

Climate activists want to prevent that.

The police are examining evidence of a tunnel system.

  • Activists

    stick themselves in

    tree houses

    in

    Lützerath

    : few problems for the police.

  • Greta Thunberg

    announces visit: "Fridays for Future" demonstration is on its way.

  • Police operation

    in

    Braunkohleort

    : demonstrators report "blows to the head".

  • This

    news ticker

    for the

    evacuation of Lützerath

    on Wednesday (January 11) is updated regularly.

Police operation in Lützerath continues in the dark

The Lützerath evacuation also continues in the dark: the police operation against the Lützerath occupation in the lignite town in North Rhine-Westphalia continues in part after nightfall.

"Objects that have been tackled are still being processed," said a police spokesman, explaining the further course of the eviction from Lützerath.

Activists who had cemented themselves in or chained themselves would also be freed despite the darkness.

"In such cases, we have to provide help," said the spokesman about the various forms of protest actions with which climate activists want to prevent the eviction of Lützerath.

Lützerath evacuation: Other occupied buildings should not be addressed for the time being

However, it is not planned to clear other buildings during the night, according to the police's plans for the buildings still outstanding during the Lützerath occupation.

Meanwhile, during the Lützerath clearance, parts of the occupied site are brightly illuminated by searchlights.

Trees were felled and bushes removed, as reported by a dpa reporter.

Wooden houses were also demolished in the dark.

Eviction in Lützerath: Neubauer accuses the police of dangerous and incomprehensible behavior

The police operation in the previous night had caused discussions.

Climate activist Luisa Neubauer accused the police on Thursday that it was dangerous and incomprehensible that the evacuation on Wednesday evening after dark continued into the night.

A dpa reporter reported that night that the police had largely limited themselves to dealing with the activities of the activists.

For example, police officers took activists from a height of about ten meters from the roof of a hall.

Other forces released an activist who was sitting in a wrecked car with her arm cemented in the ground through a hole in the vehicle.

Lützerath eviction: police officers carry Luisa Neubauer away because of a sit-in

Update from January 12, 6:20 p.m .:

Climate activist Luisa Neubauer was carried away by police officers from the access road to the lignite town of Lützerath during the eviction.

Neubauer had gathered there on Thursday with around 100 activists for a sit-in.

The participants 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.

Luisa Neubauer is carried away by three police officers after the sit-in during the evacuation of Lützerath.

© Federico Gambarini

Luisa Neubauer carried away after a sit-in at the Lützerath eviction: Police officers probably also use pepper spray

Climate activist Luisa Neubauer had joined a sit-in against the Lützerath eviction.

The police led away around 100 demonstrators.

According to Neubauer, the officers are said to have occasionally used pepper spray.

Eviction of Lützerath: Police officers carry away Luisa Neubauer

Update from January 12, 3:45 p.m .:

The activists warn the police on their official Twitter channel not to drive into the Lützerath forest with heavy equipment.

There should be a tunnel in the area.

According to the activists, it would collapse if heavy vehicles drove over it.

They warn of "acute danger to life".

However, it is unclear whether the tunnel system actually exists.

The police have received the information and are checking the situation on site, said a spokesman.

He did not initially provide any further information.

Despite the rapid progress in the evacuation, the police do not expect the operation to end any time soon.

"We do not know when the operation will end," said a spokesman on Thursday.

Since the start of operations on Wednesday, numerous wooden huts and individual tree houses erected at a height of up to ten meters have been demolished.

A large part of the squatters had allowed themselves to be carried away by the police without much resistance.

However, some continued to resist on Thursday.

Eviction in Lützerath: the police let the tree house fall ten meters deep.

© Rolf Vennenbernd/dpa

Activists stick themselves in tree houses in Lützerath: few problems for the police

Update from January 12, 2:35 p.m

.: So that they cannot be expelled from their tree houses so quickly, some activists are sticking themselves in huts with glue.

This is reported by a reporter from the dpa.

However, this does not seem to cause any problems for the police.

So far, the occupiers have been quickly detached from the officers, the reporter said.

While the climate activists in Lützerath continue to oppose the eviction in various ways, the co-leader of the Greens in the Bundestag, Katharina Dröge, spoke out.

In Berlin, Dröge defended the evacuation of Lützerath in the west as necessary.

She described the decision as a "good decision for climate protection".

Update from January 12, 2:20 p.m

.: In Lützerath, the police have already started destroying wooden houses and tree houses.

The buildings erected by the activists are being demolished with excavators and other heavy equipment.

Eviction of Lützerath: Greens defend the decision.

© Fabian Sommer/dpa

After the officials had cleared a tree house about 10 meters high from squatters, they let it fall, as a reporter from the dpa reports.

For this purpose, the police severed all the tethers that had been on the house.

Update from January 12, 2:05 p.m

.: Among the arrested activists is the Fridays for Future activist Luisa Neubauer.

"We want to stay here until we are carried away," Neubauer told dpa.

The activist also spoke of the fact that the police had used pepper spray against the demonstrators.

A police spokesman said he could neither confirm nor deny this.

At the beginning of the demonstration, Neubauer criticized the police's night-time operations in Lützerath.

During the night, the police had cleared, among other things, climate activists who had concreted themselves in.

Update from January 12, 1:05 p.m

.: After the demonstrators initially managed to break out of the demonstration route and set off in the direction of Lützerath, they have now been arrested by the police.

This is reported by the dpa, as well as by the activists themselves.

Update from January 12, 1:00 p.m

.: According to various reports, the demonstration by Fridays for Future and other initiatives has left the demonstration route and is moving in the direction of Lützerath.

According to several activists, the police used pepper spray against the demonstration.

So far, the officials have not been able to stop the activists, horse squadrons are currently being used, as is written on Twitter.

The police had previously estimated the size of the demonstration at around 800 people.

The Fridays for Future activist Luisa Neubauer is also among the participants.

Various photos show her with a sign that reads “Climate protection is manual work”.

Update from January 12, 12:00 p.m

.: The police have now also confirmed the sometimes militant resistance of the squatters during the morning.

The activists threw firecrackers and paint bags at the emergency services, as a spokesman told the

dpa

.

Eviction in Lützerath: Demonstration breaks out – police encircle activists.

© Roberto Pfeil/dpa

None of the emergency services were injured in the actions.

Only one official was hit by a paint bag, who was not injured either, according to the spokesman.

Clearance in Lützerath: the first trees are felled and there are actions on the entire site

Update from January 12, 11:35 a.m

.: The clearance in Lützerath is in full swing.

Activists are currently being cleared from the entire site.

In addition, the first trees are already being felled, as the member of the Bundestag for the Greens, Kathrin Henneberger, reports from on site.

The police are now penetrating more and more houses with the help of heavy equipment.

Meanwhile, a Fridays for Future demonstration from Keyenberg had made its way towards the occupied territory under the motto "United behind Lützerath", as the group announced on Twitter.

Update from January 12, 11:15 a.m

.: The mood seems to be heating up.

The police are again using heavy equipment against the occupation in Lützerath.

The activists threw stones and pyrotechnics to defend themselves against the clearing vehicles used, as videos on Twitter show.

Eviction of the village of Lützerath — activists and police meet

View photo gallery

When clearing a barricade on Eckardts Hof, "the piano was still being played up to the last minute", as the Greens member of the Bundestag, Kathrin Henneberger, also announced on Twitter.

Update from January 12, 10:55 a.m

.: The climate activists in Lützerath receive encouragement from the Evangelical Church.

"We need people who make their protest strong in prayer, on the street, in politics and sometimes in tree houses," says Anna-Nicole Heinrich, President of the Synod of the Evangelical Church in Germany, via Instagram.

Yesterday, Wednesday (January 11), the Eibenkapelle in Lützerath was also cleared by the police.

"We need places like the Eibenkapelle that give hope and strength to act courageously against the climate catastrophe that we are racing towards," wrote Heinrich.

Update from January 12, 10:15 a.m

.: On Wednesday (January 11), RWE began to erect a double fence around the occupied town of Lützerath.

In the morning, a company spokesman announced that the construction of the fence, which was about two meters high, had been completed.

The gates would also be hung in the course of the day.

The fence is intended to prevent activists from entering the premises, which are owned by the energy company RWE.

At the beginning of the evacuation on Wednesday, the occupiers put up some militant resistance, firecrackers and a Molotov cocktail were flying.

Aachen's police chief Dirk Weinspach told the dpa that "the violence on the part of the activists was not decisive."

Lützerath eviction: police officers penetrate into occupied barn

Update from January 12, 8:27 a.m

.: The second day of the eviction has been running since the morning hours.

According to WDR, heavy rain and heavy gusts of wind make it difficult for the police to operate.

Clearing tree houses should be difficult according to WDR reporters.

However, the police had just broken open the gate of an old farm and marched in with a hundred.

The police forces are said to have penetrated the ground floor of Eckardt's barn and tried to break open the door there, tweeted Action Ticker Lützerath.

The police would "willingly endanger people" is to be read there.

However, it is unclear how many people have holed up in the buildings.

Update from January 12, 6:07 a.m

.: The evacuation of Lützerath continues on Thursday.

The police started on Tuesday morning amid mostly peaceful protests.

At the entrance to the lignite village, excavators take over the first demolition work.

At the start of the evacuation, scuffles broke out.

According to the police, a Molotov cocktail, stones and pyrotechnics were thrown in the direction of the officers.

Overall, however, it was quieter than expected.

According to the climate activists, most of the barricades are stable.

Houses, roofs and tree houses are occupied, can

be read on Twitter in the last entry of the

action ticker Lützerath .

Lützerath eviction will also continue into the night - Greta announces a visit

Update from January 11, 2023, 7:46 p.m.:

The clearance work in Lützerath continued after dark.

Activists held out on high stands and in tree houses on Wednesday evening in windy weather.

Construction machines drove back and forth, parts of Lützerath were brightly lit with floodlights, others plunged into deep darkness.

According to Aachen police chief Dirk Weinspach, two police officers were slightly injured on Wednesday.

However, the officials are able to work, he told journalists.

According to him, around 200 climate activists left the area voluntarily on the first day of the evacuation.

The work would continue overnight, albeit “on a reduced scale”.

The real challenge still lies ahead of the police, Weinspach said, referring to the clearing of the seven buildings on the site.

So far, the tactical planning has worked, emphasized the chief of police.

Lützerath: NRW interior minister calls on activists to leave

Update from January 11, 2023, 5.40 p.m .:

NRW Interior Minister Herbert Reul (CDU) has asked the climate activists to leave Lützerath.

This is still possible for peaceful activists at any time without verification of identity, said Reul on Wednesday in Düsseldorf.

"This is our offer.

Protect the climate, but do not protect violent disruptors.”

The police had started the expected evacuation of Lützerath on Wednesday morning.

On site, she encountered "considerable ground structures" that the activists had created to prevent the eviction.

Reul spoke of "monopods, tripods, blockades and locks".

In the morning, 350 people were illegally staying in Lützerath.

Among them was a "mid-double-digit number of violent disruptors," said Reul.

In the meantime, RWE has erected a 1.7-kilometer fence around the site to prevent further influx.

"The operation is going according to plan, the situation is calm," said Reul.

However, the deployment is still in an early phase.

The police initially encountered the expected resistance.

Firecrackers, cobblestones and Molotov cocktails were flown.

After that the situation calmed down.

Lützerath eviction: the police draw a positive interim conclusion and praise the behavior of a "many activists"

Update from January 11, 2023, 4:10 p.m .:

The police are gradually combing the area in Lützerath at the moment.

Activists who are in tree houses are taken down from the trees with hydraulic platforms.

In addition, the emergency services clear barns and halls in which climate activists had holed up.

The actions take place without major incidents.   

Police officers open the gate of a hall in search of activists.

© Rolf Vennenbernd/dpa

Update from January 11, 2023, 3:19 p.m .:

The police forces in Lützerath have drawn an overall positive interim conclusion of the clearance work.

A police spokesman said they were “very satisfied” with the operation so far.

"So far everything is going according to plan for the police," he continued.

"After a certainly mixed start this morning, where we also saw some stones thrown and Molotov cocktails thrown, I would say: the situation has calmed down considerably."

The speaker also found words of appreciation for most of the climate activists and their behavior.

"Above all, we expressly welcome the fact that a large number of activists have decided to leave the area peacefully and without resistance," said the police spokesman.

"We have experienced predominantly peaceful protests here, in sit-ins, on tripods - and these are forms of protest that we are super ready with." appropriate resistance behavior.

Greta Thunberg announces visit from Lützerath for Saturday – climate activist wants to support protests

Update from January 11, 2023, 2:42 p.m .:

The Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg wants to take part in the protests against the eviction of the village of Lützerath in the Rhenish lignite mining area.

Thunberg will come to a demonstration in the region on Saturday (January 14), organizers of the protests announced on Wednesday.

Thunberg is one of the most internationally renowned climate activists.

Climate activist Greta Thunberg wants to come to Lützerath on Saturday.

© Yui Mok/dpa

Thunberg had already traveled to Lützerath in September 2021 to demonstrate against coal mining and for compliance with the 1.5-degree climate target - one day before the federal elections at that time.

Climate protectionists are protesting against the evictions in numerous German cities these days.

According to the climate protection movement Fridays for Future, a protest is planned in Munich on Thursday (January 12) and in Hamburg on Friday (January 13).

On Saturday, people from over 50 places should travel together to Lützerath.

Eviction in Lützerath: projectiles against the police – the federal government “explicitly condemns violence”

Update from January 11, 2023, 2:23 p.m.:

The federal government has sharply condemned the sometimes violent resistance of climate activists to police officers during the eviction of the lignite village of Lützerath.

“There was resistance today and also riots during the ongoing evacuation of the village.

The federal government expressly condemns this violence," said government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit in Berlin.

"We have no understanding for that." Hebestreit warned that protests should only be "peaceful and move within the framework of our laws".

The police are there to enforce the law.

According to the police, Molotov cocktails, stones and pyrotechnics were occasionally thrown in the direction of the officers at the beginning of the operation.

However, there were also accusations from the activists that the police sometimes acted disproportionately during the operation.

A protester described "beatings to the head" by police officers.

Lützerath evacuation: Up to 800 climate activists are said to have holed up in houses

Update from January 11, 2023, 1:37 p.m.:

According to a spokeswoman for the “Lützerath is alive” initiative, “activists in the village have taken their blockade locations”.

Accordingly, these tree houses and the few buildings in the small town near the demolition edge of the Garzweiler opencast lignite mine are occupied, i.e. uninhabited single-family and farmhouses.

They also glue or chain themselves to the buildings.

"They then try to handcuff themselves to a pipe, for example," the spokeswoman said.

In some cases, the pipes are embedded in concrete.

This complicates the use of the police forces, who would first have to break up the concrete.

In addition to squatting, the protesters say they are also setting up poles – so-called monopods – to occupy them at a height of several meters.

As a modification, the activists also used tripods, so-called tripods.

These posts would also be occupied by an activist at a height of several meters.

The aim is to prolong the protest and make it more difficult to use.

The police themselves have not yet been able to provide any information on the situation in the houses.

"We do not know how many people are in the houses," said a police spokesman.

According to the climate activists, between 600 and 800 protesters are holed up in Lützerath.

According to the spokesman, the police suspect "several hundred" protesters.

Update from January 11, 2023, 1:15 p.m .:

In Lützerath, the police and climate activists are playing a cat and mouse game.

As before, the activists steadfastly refuse to obey the police announcements and continue to occupy halls, trees and houses.

According to Alexander Schäfer, who is on site as a reporter from

wa.de

for

IPPEN.MEDIA

, a large contingent of police is advancing to gradually clear the premises in Lützerath.

People are being carried away by police officers, some of them are holding out on the roofs of houses.

According to the reporter, bottles and firecrackers sometimes fly in the direction of the emergency services.

However, the police operation was generally calm and organized.

Police operation in Lützerath: 200 celebrities demand an immediate stop to the clearance work in an open letter

Update from January 11, 2023, 12:57 p.m .:

The activists in Lützerath have received prominent support.

More than 200 well-known personalities have written an open letter calling for an immediate stop to the clearance work in the village occupied by climate activists in the Rhenish lignite mining area.

The excavation of the coal in Lützerath is "not just a question of the existence of a village, but a cause that is of global and climate policy trend-setting importance," reported the

mirror

on Wednesday, citing the letter.

The signatories include the actresses Katja Riemann, Thelma Buabeng, Pheline Roggan, the actors Peter Lohmeyer and Robert Stadlober as well as the bands Sportfreunde Stiller, Deichkind and Revolverheld, the pianist Igor Levit and the influencer Louisa Dellert.

The campaign was initiated by actress Luisa-Céline Gaffron and actor Jonathan Berlin.

The latter told the "Spiegel" that he wished "that our action would lead to a productive debate, that the next few days would be peaceful and the situation would not escalate".

Police operation in Braunkohleort: demonstrators report "blows to the head"

Update from January 11, 2023, 12:18 p.m .:

The police have reported physical attacks by some activists with Molotov cocktails and pyrotechnics.

However, demonstrators in Lützerath have also complained about the sometimes disproportionate use of officials.

"I got hit on the head myself, even though we were standing here, my hands were hooked," a climate activist told

WDR

.

They still want to protest non-violently: "We don't want any escalation with the police."

When asked about suspected projectiles being thrown at the police, one of her comrades-in-arms affirmed: "It is important to all of us that the protest here is peaceful." He is concerned with climate justice and questioning the political decision, which he sees as questionable, to give up Lützerath for lignite mining.

According to him, most local climate activists are peaceful.

Lützerath is being evicted: the RWE energy company wants to completely fence off the town

Update vom 11. Januar 2023, 12.03 Uhr: Während die Räumung von Lützerath durch die Polizei noch läuft, hat der Energiekonzern RWE eine Maßnahme angekündigt. Nach dem Polizeieinsatz werde ein eineinhalb Kilometer langer Zaun um den Ort gebaut, hieß es in einem Statement des Konzerns: „Er markiert das betriebseigene Baustellengelände, wo in den nächsten Wochen die restlichen Gebäude, Nebenanlagen, Straßen und Kanäle der ehemaligen Siedlung zurückgebaut werden. Zudem werden Bäume und Sträucher entfernt.“

Update vom 11. Januar 2023, 11.20 Uhr: Die Räumung in Lützerath dürfte sich noch eine ganze Weile hinziehen. Die Einsatzkräfte der Polizei müssen an vielen Stellen mit Schweißgerät und Presslufthammer einzelne Pfeiler aus dem Boden entfernen. Eine ganz schön mühsame Arbeit, die natürlich viel Zeit kostet.

Räumung von Lützerath: Wetter macht Polizei und Klimaaktivisten zusätzlich zu schaffen

Update vom 11. Januar 2023, 11.11 Uhr: Polizei und Klimaaktivisten haben bei der Räumung von Lützerath mit ungemütlichem Wetter zu kämpfen. In der Nacht zum Mittwoch habe es unmittelbar vor Beginn der Räumung drei bis fünf Liter Regen pro Quadratmeter gegeben, sagte Jana Beck, Meteorologin des Deutschen Wetterdienstes (DWD) in Essen. Die Böden in dem besetzten Ort und drumherum waren bereits völlig aufgeweicht. Am Mittwochnachmittag werde es weiter regnen.

In der Nacht zum Donnerstag soll außerdem der Wind weiter auffrischen, vereinzelt seien stürmische Böen möglich. Dabei rechnet die Meteorologin noch einmal mit bis zu 10 Litern Regen pro Quadratmeter. In den kommenden Tagen soll es in Lützerath ebenfalls immer wieder regnen. „Bis zum Wochenende wird es keine dauerhaft niederschlagsfreie Phase geben“, sagte Beck.

Lützerath-Räumung läuft: Lage laut Polizeisprecher derzeit stabil – keine Erkenntnisse über Verletzte

Update vom 11. Januar 2023, 11.05 Uhr: Am Mittwochvormittag gab ein Polizeisprecher an, dass nach dem Start der Räumung des besetzten Braunkohleortes Lützerath die Lage „stabil“ sei. Die Einsatzkräfte hätten den gesamten Bereich abgesperrt, niemand komme mehr unbefugt hinein, hieß es. Nun sei die Polizei auf dem gesamten Gelände aktiv, entferne etwa Barrikaden und bringe Aktivisten nach draußen. Personen könnten sich – wenn überhaupt – nur noch eingeschränkt in dem Areal bewegen. Zu möglichen Verletzten hatte der Polizeisprecher zunächst keine Erkenntnisse.

Update vom 11. Januar 2023, 10.52 Uhr: Laut Angaben der Polizei beteiligen sich auch Kinder am Protest gegen die Räumung des Braunkohleorts, wie auch 24rhein.de berichtet. „In Lützerath befinden sich Kleinkinder. Aufgrund weitreichender Gefahren im Einsatzraum, appelliert die Polizei Aachen an die Erziehungsberechtigten, den Bereich umgehend mit ihren Kindern zu verlassen“, hieß es in einer Mitteilung. Auch das Jugendamt sei vor Ort und unterstütze die Einsatzkräfte.

Polizei räumt Braunkohleort: Aktivisten wollen bleiben und ihren Protest fortsetzen

Update vom 11. Januar 2023, 10.47 Uhr: Klein beigeben wollen die Klimaaktivisten in Lützerath offenbar nicht. Eine Sprecherin hat bekräftigt, dass man trotz der Aufforderung der Polizei, den Braunkohleort zu verlassen, das Dorf weiter besetzt halten wolle. „Die Menschen sind fest entschlossen dazubleiben, auszuharren, die Bäume und die Gebäude zu schützen“, sagte Mara Sauer, eine Sprecherin der Initiative „Lützerath lebt“. Zu möglichen Verletzten habe sie noch keine Erkenntnisse. Die Polizei hatte am Mittwochmorgen mit der Räumung von Lützerath begonnen. Unter anderem seien Aktivisten auf Baumhäusern, in Gebäuden und Hütten, sagte Sauer. „Das wird auf jeden Fall noch lange dauern“, betonte sie mit Blick auf die Räumung.

Update vom 11. Januar 2023, 10.30 Uhr: Am Dienstagabend (10. Januar) wurde mit zwei Eilverfahren versucht, das Aufenthaltsverbot für das im rheinischen Braunkohlerevier liegenden Dorf Lützerath zu kippen. Doch am Mittwoch gab das Verwaltungsgericht in Aachen bekannt, dass das Verbot erneut bestätigt wurde. Bereits in der vergangenen Woche waren Klimaaktivisten mit einem Eilantrag vor dem Verwaltungsgericht gescheitert. Das Oberverwaltungsgericht in Münster bestätigte die Entscheidung am Montag.

Update vom 11. Januar 2023, 10.21 Uhr: In dem von Klimaaktivisten besetzten Braunkohleort ist ein Zeichen an vielen Hauswänden zu sehen. Ein gelbes Kreuz ziert in Lützerath viele Fassaden, das Symbol hat eine besondere Bedeutung.  

Climate activists block an access road to the occupied lignite mining town of Lützerath.

©Oliver Berg/dpa

Police speak of violence: activists are said to have thrown Molotov cocktails at emergency services

Update from January 11, 2023, 10:15 a.m .:

Apparently, the police in Lützerath have the situation at the lignite site under control.

According to the police, individual climate activists used violence beforehand and threw Molotov cocktails, pyrotechnics and stones at the emergency services.

Nevertheless, a local police spokesman said of the Lützerath evacuation: "I would have expected it to be worse." Despite the voluntary withdrawal of some activists, the police are still faced with the problem of removing the remaining protesters from the barricades, trees or other places of retreat.

Numerous climate activists are currently holed up there.

Lützerath before the eviction: That has happened until now

View photo gallery

Update from January 11, 2023, 9:49 a.m .:

The police have given activists an ultimatum to give up the occupation of the lignite town of Lützerath.

There is now one last possibility to leave the place voluntarily.

Otherwise, "you have to expect the application of immediate coercion," said a police announcement on Wednesday morning.

The first activists followed the request and left voluntarily.

They were escorted off the premises by police officers.

But many want to continue to resist.

Update vom 11. Januar 2023, 9.33 Uhr: Erste gewaltsame Aktionen durch protestierende Aktivisten in Lützerath: Bei der Räumung des Braunkohleortes in Nordrhein-Westfalen sind nach Angaben der Polizei Steine und Pyrotechnik in Richtung der Einsatzkräfte geworfen worden. Auch Molotow-Cocktails seien eingesetzt worden. „Unterlassen Sie sofort das Werfen von Molotow-Cocktails. Verhalten Sie sich friedlich und gewaltfrei!“, schrieb die Polizei bei Twitter.

Update vom 11. Januar 2023, 9.13 Uhr: Unterdessen wurde durch Polizeikräfte damit begonnen, das von Klimaaktivisten besetzte Dorf Lützerath im rheinischen Braunkohlerevier zu umzäunen.

Update vom 11. Januar 2023, 9.05 Uhr: In Lützerath hat die Polizei hat zum Verlassen des von Aktivisten besetzten Braunkohleorts aufgefordert. „Sie können den Bereich hier jetzt verlassen, ohne dass es weitere Konsequenzen für Sie hat“, hieß es in einer Lautsprecher-Durchsage der Polizei am Mittwochmorgen. „Aufgrund entsprechender Allgemeinverfügung des Kreises Heinsberg vom 20.12.2022 ist ihnen der Aufenthalt und das Betreten in dem darin festgesetzten Bereich in und um die Ortslage Lützerath untersagt.“ Die Polizei fordere alle Personen auf, die sich dort aufhalten, den Bereich zu verlassen.

Update from January 11, 2023, 8.50 a.m .:

Hundreds of police officers moved to the lignite town of Lützerath on Wednesday and penetrated into the place occupied by activists.

It came to the first scuffles, as dpa reporters reported.

A police spokesman confirmed that emergency services want to completely change the place.

Climate activists are in the occupied lignite town of Lützerath.

© Rolf Vennenbernd/dpa

Update from January 11, 2023, 8.40 a.m

.: In the occupied lignite town of Lützerath, the activists are preparing for an imminent evacuation by the police.

On Wednesday morning, sirens and alarm bells rang through the occupied location.

"We think it's about to start because a lot of police cars have driven here," said a spokeswoman for the activists.

"A never-ending chain of police cars drives through the opencast mine," said the Telegram channel "Lützerath Lebt!

Info Channel".

Police officers advance to the brown coal town of Lützerath, which is occupied by climate activists.

The eviction has begun.

© Rolf Vennenbernd/dpa

Einige Aktivisten kletterten auf hohe Monopods und Tripods - das sind zusammengebundene Stämme mit Plattformen. Sie wurden in den vergangenen Tagen errichtet, um es der Polizei möglichst schwer zu machen, an die Aktivisten heranzukommen.

Räumung von Lützerath steht bevor: Klimaaktivisten haben das verlassene Dorf in NRW seit Monaten besetzt

Ursprungsmeldung vom 10. Januar 2023: Erkelenz – Das Dorf Lützerath im Westen von Nordrhein-Westfalen ist verlassen. Ursprüngliche Bewohner haben sich eine neue Heimat gesucht. Unter ihm liegen 280 Millionen Tonnen Braunkohle. Der Energiekonzern RWE will die Kohle dort abbaggern. Der Grund und die Gebäude gehören RWE. Dafür sind vor Monaten Klima-Aktivisten eingezogen und haben Lützerath besetzt. Die Kohle dort muss im Boden bleiben, fordern sie.

Lützerath ist zum Symbol für die Klimapolitik der Bundesregierung und NRW geworden. Es müsse einen früheren Kohleausstieg geben, so der Vorwurf. Denn, mit dem Abbaggern ist das Einhalten des 1,5 Grad-Ziels aus dem Pariser Klimaabkommen nach Ansicht von Experten fast unmöglich.

Polizei sorgt sich um Gewalteskalation: Lützerath soll am Mittwoch (11. Januar) geräumt werden

Mit der Räumung von Lützerath muss laut Polizei jederzeit gerechnet werden. Der genaue Zeitpunkt ist weiter offen. Das Oberverwaltungsgericht NRW hat am Dienstag (10. Januar) grundsätzlich grünes Licht gegeben. Die Aktivisten sind vor Gericht im Streit um ein Aufenthaltsverbot erneut gescheitert. Nach Informationen der Polizei soll das Dorf aber nicht vor Mittwoch (11. Januar) geräumt werden.

The authorities want to provide information on Tuesday (January 10) together with Heinsberg district administrator Stephan Pusch in the city of Erkelenz, to which Lützerath belongs, about the use of the Garzweiler opencast mine.

Various groups are now demonstrating in Lützerath and the surrounding area.

A broad alliance has called for a large demonstration on Saturday (January 14).

Lützerath eviction is imminent: climate activists are sitting on so-called tripods.

©Oliver Berg/dpa

Protests in Lützerath: Climate activists tie themselves to tripods

Während die Polizei mit Baggern schon Barrikaden wegräumt, bereiten sich Aktivisten weiter auf die Räumung vor. In den frühen Morgenstunden haben sie sich auf sogenannten Tripods festgebunden, berichtet der WDR. Sie würden von einer Menschenkette umringt. Die Polizei habe sie eingekesselt. Die Lage sei „dynamisch“, twittert der Aktionsticker Lützerath. Die Polizei setze demnach Schmerzgriffe und vereinzelt Pfefferspray ein.

"It will be a challenging operation with many risks," police chief Dirk Weinspach said on Monday morning on WDR.

In the past week, the Lützerath protests remained mostly peaceful - but on Sunday it "escalated again for the first time".

Among other things, stones were flown.

"That's not a good sign at first," said Weinspach.

"I hope that won't happen again next week."

(ml)

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2023-01-13

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