An activist of the climate protection initiative "Last Generation" is glued to the street with his hand. © Matthias Balk/dpa/Symbolbild
The climate activist group Letzte Generation continues its blockades in Berlin. Berlin's Senator for Justice wants to have it checked whether it is a criminal organization. The police union has a drastic proposal.
Berlin - Activists of the group Letzte Generation blocked traffic on several Berlin streets on Monday. This led to obstructions, especially on the city motorway. Several climate protection activists took part in a blockade action at the Hohenzollerndamm exit in Berlin-Charlottenburg. Several vehicles were also used to block the roadway, a spokesman for the Berlin police told the German Press Agency. "At the same time, several people glued themselves to vehicles, the roadway and each other." Across Berlin, 250 police officers are deployed in connection with the blockade actions.
According to a dpa photographer, there was slow-moving or even stationary traffic in both directions on the city highway at Hohenzollerndamm. The police have not yet been able to provide any information on the effects of the blockade actions. According to police, there were blockades at almost a dozen different places in the city, including on the corner of Dominicusstraße and Ebertstraße in Schöneberg, on Tempelhofer Damm on the corner of Paradestraße in Tempelhof and on Danziger Straße on the corner of Prenzlauer Allee in Prenzlauer Berg.
Meanwhile, Berlin's Governing Mayor Kai Wegner (CDU) is having a legal examination carried out to determine the extent to which the activists can be asked to pay for the damage they cause. "I have the firm will to free Berlin from the hostage of these chaotics," Wegner told Bild am Sonntag.
In addition, Berlin's new Senator for Justice, Felor Badenberg (independent), is having it examined whether the climate group Letzte Generation is a criminal organization. The life and everyday life of the people in Berlin were significantly affected by the activities of the climate demonstrators and sometimes endangered, Badenberg told the German Press Agency on Saturday. "Therefore, it is important to exhaust all legal possibilities, and this includes the question of whether the Last Generation is a 'criminal organization'."
In the neighboring state of Brandenburg, investigations are underway against the climate group on suspicion of forming a criminal organization. The background to the proceedings at the Neuruppin public prosecutor's office is, among other things, attacks by activists since April 2022 on facilities at the PCK Schwedt refinery. The Potsdam Regional Court had also recently seen an initial suspicion that the Last Generation could be a criminal organization. However, the Berlin public prosecutor's office had not seen any evidence of this so far.
The police union (GdP) welcomed the initiative of the Senator of Justice. "As far as we know, we are dealing with a hierarchically organized criminal organization that has been committing crimes in the capital for more than a year and has become even more militant in the guerrilla actions in recent weeks," said GdP spokesman Benjamin Jendro on Monday.
"Slowly but surely, one should seriously consider whether someone who has repeatedly proven that he deliberately endangers people in road traffic is still allowed to sit behind the wheel at all," Jendro said. "Withdrawing the driver's license would be a constitutional means and would even affect those who hypocritically pretend to fight for climate protection." dpa