German prosecutors admitted on Sunday that they had wiretapped environmental activists belonging to the Letzte Generation ("The Last Generation") group, a report that caused an uproar in the country. The move was ordered as part of an investigation into suspicions that members of the group "constituted or supported a criminal organization," a spokesman for the Munich prosecutor's office said.
The group's activists, known for sticking their hands on the asphalt of the roads they block to draw attention to the climate crisis, called the prosecutor's measure "absurd." Conversations between members of the group and journalists questioning them were among the monitored calls, the prosecutor's spokesman acknowledged. Although the journalists themselves were not targeted, they "were affected by these measures because of calls made via the monitored phone numbers," the spokesman said.
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The Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper unveiled the operation on Saturday, saying it started in October 2022 and also included monitoring emails, voicemail accounts and recording GPS data from mobile phones. "We protest by showing our names and faces, publish our plans, accept the legal consequences," Letzte Generation wrote on Twitter. "Nevertheless, the Bavarian LKA (police) recorded phone calls, e-mails (...) This is absurd." Dietmar Bartsch, parliamentary leader of the far-left opposition party Linke, called the surveillance "completely inappropriate."
During their investigation, police raided the homes of several Letzte Generation activists in May. Two bank accounts were also seized. Letzte Generation, whose actions have included delaying flights and blocking road traffic, divides public opinion with its tactics.