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Henning Jeschke: Left hand firmly on the table
Photo:
Anne Baum / dpa
Shortly before the end of this memorable day of negotiations, Henning Jeschke, climate activist of the »last generation«, is thrown out of the Tiergarten district court in Berlin, or more precisely: taken out.
His hand is still stuck to a table with a greenish top, court staff and police accompany him outside.
It's about three thirty in the afternoon.
A court spokeswoman later said that Jeschke did not want him to be taken off the table.
Then his companions would have brought him to the bus stop.
Shortly thereafter, Jeschke disappeared, along with the table, to which the court no longer claims any claim.
Where is he?
And how did he get away?
The spokeswoman does not know, his lawyer Tobias Krenzel does not know.
In the evening, the group's Twitter account published a photo that apparently shows the table in a subway.
Jeschke reports that after 20 minutes he released himself with "some liquid" and then got on the train.
At this point in time, the court case against him is still ongoing, it is about several actions by the group from the past year, road blockades among other things.
Jeschke is no longer allowed to be there - a serious step.
But he also doesn't want to be there, at least not under these circumstances.
This is how he put it before the court.
The courts want to talk about roadblocks, the activists about the climate crisis and civil disobedience
For the past few weeks, every few days, members of the “last generation” have been brought to court somewhere in the republic for actions that took place in March or June last year.
The blockades have made them famous, but also extremely controversial.
Some activists have already been convicted, usually for coercing the drivers they stopped and for resisting police.
Most of the time, the fines were fairly manageable.
In the proceedings, the courts want to talk about the blockages, the length of the traffic jam and the exact number of lanes someone was sitting on.
Above all, the »Last Generation« wants to talk about the climate crisis, about protest, about the history of civil disobedience.
So far it hasn't gotten that far.
In the courtroom, Jeschke now uses the means that the group usually uses to make themselves heard: glue, in order to disrupt the processes of this society.
The hearing begins at 1 p.m.
It is the second appointment in the matter.
During the first day of the trial two weeks ago, Jeschke gave a presentation on his motives and had a brief debate with judge Sebastian Jacobs, who gave his perspective on the actions.
Jeschke and his lawyer filed a motion for bias, which was rejected.
So now day two.
"Mr. Chairman, would you permit me to present two motions of evidence?" the lawyer asks.
The judge allows, the lawyer argues.
The court should obtain an opinion from Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, the climate researcher, founding director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research.
The expert can clearly demonstrate how urgent the climate crisis is.
The judge frowns.
The court, the lawyer continues, should also obtain an expert opinion from the social scientist and protest researcher Simon Teune from the Free University of Berlin.
This could show that civil disobedience, as practiced by the »last generation«, is effective and therefore necessary.
Both motions aim to argue that the group's actions are justified and not punishable because of the urgency of the situation and other means are unavailable.
Exchange of blows between activist and judge
The judge continues with the program.
As he reads out a police record of a road blockade, Jeschke interjects: "Mr. Chairman, when will you decide on the applications for evidence?"
Judge: "Why are you interrupting me?"
Jeschke: »Because that belongs more here than what happened on the streets.«
The judge rebukes him: "I'm conducting the main hearing here." And: "I'll give you the floor."
Shortly thereafter, Jeschke stands up.
He raises his voice, he now speaks a text, he declaims: "I'm sorry that I have to interrupt you again.
I'm sorry I have to do this."
Then he continues, about two minutes, as far as he can get: »I can't help it because the rule of law is close to my heart.
I have to do this because we see the world in greater peril than ever.
I've got myself glued to the table here.
I'm broadcasting the whole thing live on the internet because I think at this moment we need to talk about the climate emergency.
The judge already refused last time and points out that this is not the forum.
But it has to be the forum for it.«
The adhesive action probably involves another procedure
The judge has already left the room through the door behind him.
Shortly thereafter, a judicial officer rushes into the room, tries to snatch Jeschke's cell phone and pushes it down on the table.
Then journalists and other spectators are sent out of the room.
The session is suspended.
Video and audio recordings of a hearing are prohibited.
Sticking probably too.
Jeschke is therefore faced with another legal dispute.
It is the first time members of the "Last Generation" have disrupted a court proceeding in this way.
So far they have mostly participated, cooperated, only always tried to bring the processes to the political level.
But that hardly catches the eye.
The court is about witnesses, photos, interviews, not about considerations about the climate crisis or forms of protest.
They may be incorporated into judgements, as can sometimes be seen in the reasoning behind the judgement.
But they are not the subject of the proceedings.
As the trial continues, Jeschke's left hand is still taped to the table.
The judge announced that Jeschke would impose disciplinary measures in the event of further disturbances or even exclude him from his own hearing.
The police show up, new interruption.
Announcement in the waiting room: "The Henning Jeschke criminal case will be continued." Jeschke's hand is still stuck to the table.
The judge reads out a police report.
Jeschke interrupts him again: "Excuse me..."
The judge ignores him and reads on.
Jeschke says: "I don't want to interrupt you.
I don't think it's that relevant..."
The judge ignores him and reads on.
Jeschke interrupts again.
So this afternoon is the extension of the previous actions of the »last generation«, which they are now also taking into the courtroom.
From Jeschke's point of view, what happens there is just another social routine that needs to be broken.
The activists disrupt everyday life and believe that this is how they create change, even if they antagonize people, commit crimes - and end up in court.
"I intend to exclude Henning Jeschke from today's main hearing," says the judge.
The lawyer tries to persuade the judge to take a milder measure, but Jeschke intervenes.
In view of what is being presented, he doesn't need to be there, he says.
"The cameras are on you," he says to the judge, meaning figuratively.
Jeschke is gone, the judge reads police reports
Shortly thereafter, Jeschke is sitting in the waiting room, his hand is still stuck to the table.
A dozen police officers are now there.
Judicial officers stand around, as does the lawyer.
Suddenly there is talk of a house ban.
The court spokeswoman later explains it this way: Jeschke probably committed criminal offenses in court.
After being thrown out of the hearing, he no longer had any reason to stay in the building.
The president of the district court, as the owner of the domiciliary rights, made this decision.
At the same time in room D 107 the hearing is running again, the judge reads out police reports.
One learns how a police officer found the situation on June 22, how he spoke to Jeschke, what he saw there: "Meanwhile, the suspect was being interviewed by the press." The seats on the right in front of the judge, where Jeschke and his lawyer were just sitting , are empty.
The door opens, lawyer Krenzel comes back.
He requests that the main hearing be interrupted.
Several exchanges of words with the judge follow, an exchange about a judgment from Hamburg and the question of whether it is already final, a dismissed application for bias;
a discussion about a closed trial from Lübeck and the question of whether the indictment from back then, which the judge wants to read out, is relevant.
At some point during this time, Jeschke is taken outside, along with the table.
"Should this continue?"
After all, it is about the applications for evidence, the expert opinions Jeschke wanted from the scientists.
The judge rejects both.
The court has sufficient technical and legal knowledge of its own to assess protests and their effects.
What Schellnhuber could say about the state of climate research is irrelevant to the decision.
The last topic of the day, the next hearing date, possible witnesses that the lawyer would like to see questioned, and the question from the judge to the lawyer, very fundamentally, after this day: "Should it continue like this?"
Response: "I'm not my client's legal guardian."
It will continue in two weeks.
The house ban then no longer applies.
Jeschke will probably be there again, at least at the beginning.
He already has plans for the table, he writes to SPIEGEL in the evening: "I plan to bring the table to the places where I suspect the people who should really be in the dock because of the destruction of the climate."