The German police carried out this Wednesday, May 24, a vast operation against the radical environmental movement "Last Generation", author of several controversial civil disobedience actions and which called in response to "protest marches".
The authorities "searched fifteen places throughout the country", due to "suspicions of offences committed by members of the Last Generation", as part of an investigation for "formation or support of a criminal organization", said the Munich prosecutor's office. Seven members of this collective, aged between 22 and 38, are targeted by this procedure, he added.
The most prominent environmental collective
In detail, they are accused of having "advertised on the internet" and "organized" "fundraising", to the tune of "1.4 million euros" to undertake illegal actions. Two members of "Last Generation" are suspected of having "tried in April 2022 to sabotage the Trieste-Ingolstadt pipeline", an oil pipeline through Bavaria, considered an "essential infrastructure" by the German authorities. The searches took place in "seven German regions," including Berlin, Bavaria and Hesse, according to the prosecutor's office. "Accounts have been seized and assets confiscated," he said following various complaints.
In response, the environmental movement called on "citizens to participate in protest marches." Rallies were planned late Wednesday afternoon in Berlin, Dresden and Hamburg. "They scare us, but we must not give in. The government is leading us with our eyes closed to a climate hell, and is pressing the accelerator," said Aimée van Baalen, spokesperson for Last Generation, at a press conference.
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Last Generation" is the most prominent environmental collective currently in Germany. He has attracted attention in recent months for his sometimes spectacular civil disobedience actions aimed at pushing the government to accelerate the fight against climate change. Its members have repeatedly glued their hands to the asphalt of major roads to stop traffic or projected different substances on paintings in museums. The movement is already the subject of hundreds of legal proceedings for, among other things, disturbing public order. Recently, a court sentenced three activists to five, four and three months in prison, the harshest punishment imposed so far for such acts.
"Last Generation is not criminal"
Activists from groups like Last Generation argue that their protests are essential in the face of what the authorities consider insufficient action to combat climate change. "Should we (...) that there is no shortage of drinking water so that we understand that Last Generation is not criminal?" said Aimée van Baalen on Wednesday. "The rule of law cannot be stepped on," Interior Minister Nancy Faeser told the newspapers of the Funke press group.
More than 1600 crimes committed by environmental activists were recorded last year in the country by the police, most often roadblocks, added the minister. The actions of environmentalists arouse the anger of the government, which claims to have done more than any other to counter global warming. The ruling coalition, which brings together ecologists, social democrats and liberals, has ambitious climate targets such as producing 80% of electricity using renewable energies by 2030.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz publicly taunted "Last Generation" this week during a school visit, saying he found it "totally silly to stick to a blackboard or a road." "How can he dare stand in front of the children whose future he is destroying and say that the protest against his destructive policies is totally idiotic?" said Marion Fabian, a spokeswoman for the movement. A Council of Climate Experts, tasked with evaluating the government's action, issued a report in mid-April estimating that Germany was at risk of not meeting its CO2 reduction targets.