In an open letter to the state parliament on Friday, Nuremberg Jesuit Father Jörg Alt criticized the actions of the security forces against street blockers in Munich last week. The action against the 90-year-old Father Joe Böselmesser destroys trust in the proportionality and fairness of state action. “Anxious people are now afraid of the police overreacting and are hesitant to exercise their fundamental right to freedom of expression and freedom of demonstration,” Alt fears.
Bösemesser and others were detained, although they followed the instructions of the police, according to Alt. In addition, during a week of action in Munich, 13 scientists from the activist group “Scientist Rebellion” were taken into custody for several days, “for whom the survival is close to the heart of mankind”.
Hundreds of thousands are already dying all over the world because of the climate catastrophe, the letter says. “Those who drew attention to it should not be punished.” Rather, these protests should lead to immediate talk about extreme weather, hunger or flight and measures being taken.
The motivations, background and content of the protest must also be discussed publicly in the state parliament, says Alt, who is therefore asking for a “current hour”. He accuses those responsible in politics of concealing years of omissions. They have contributed to the fact that there is increasingly no alternative to forms of protest such as road blockades because of the “shrinking time window”. A policy that would allow this sends a signal of reconciliation in society, the priest explains.
Alt criticizes that the socio-ecological transformation in Bavaria is not progressing in any relevant area and that the Free State is in last place in the federal state index mobility and environment 2020/21. Bavaria should campaign for a speed limit, which the ADAC and a large majority of the population also demanded, and campaign for affordable local public transport.