Police officers in Bavaria and six other federal states have been searching the homes of “last generation” activists since early Wednesday morning. It’s about a suspicion that has been raised several times in the past few days: the formation and support of a criminal organization. The Bavarian Central Office for Combating Extremism and Terrorism at the Munich Public Prosecutor’s Office is investigating seven suspects between the ages of 22 and 38.
According to investigators, there were no arrests. However, the investigators froze assets, confiscated accounts – and also shut down the climate group’s website, as it tweeted in the morning. The raid comes amid a legal and public debate over whether or not the “Last Generation” is in fact a criminal organization. So far there have been several preliminary investigations and legal examinations because of the allegation, but no judgments – so far there have only been because of the road blockades themselves.
A fundraiser is said to have raised at least 1.4 million euros
The Bavarian terror investigators now derive their suspicion from the financing of the group and the actions. The investigators accuse the accused of “organizing a fundraising campaign to finance further crimes for the ‘last generation'”. The suspects advertised this fundraising campaign on the group’s website, which has so far raised at least 1.4 million euros. “According to current knowledge, this money was mainly used to commit other crimes committed by the association,” the investigators said on Wednesday morning. The general public prosecutor’s office did not announce which crimes were involved – only that they also accuse two suspects of wanting to sabotage the Trieste-Ingolstadt oil pipeline in April 2022.
Just a few days ago, Berlin’s new justice senator, Felor Badenberg (independent), commissioned her house to investigate whether the “last generation” is a criminal organization. The life and everyday life of people in Berlin were significantly affected by the group’s actions, sometimes endangered, said Badenberg as a reason. One must therefore “exhaust all legal possibilities”.
Corresponding investigations have been underway in Brandenburg for months. The public prosecutor’s office in Neuruppin had the homes of eleven activists in several federal states searched in mid-December. However, the proceedings are not about the prominently discussed street tape campaigns of the past few months or the blockade of air traffic at BER Airport, but about repeated sabotage of an oil refinery in Schwedt. As with the investigations in Munich, the suspicion is not about the “last generation” as a whole, but about individuals.
If courts follow the arguments of the public prosecutor’s office, this could have serious consequences for the accused. Membership in a criminal organization is punishable by up to five years in prison, support by up to three years.