Status: 07.11.2022 07:48 a.m
The blockades and damage to property by climate activists are causing criticism. But the coalition representatives reject the Union’s demand for tougher penalties. The “Last Generation” meanwhile announced further actions.
In connection with the protests by the climate activists of the group “Last Generation”, the Union wants to tighten criminal law. The group had been criticized in recent weeks for numerous actions – including road blockades and damage to property in museums – and the federal government also found clear words.
However, representatives of the traffic light coalition reject tightening of criminal law. FDP General Secretary Bijan Djir-Sarai told the Tagesspiegel that he was “greatly concerned” about the “continuing radicalization of parts of the climate movement”. But there are already enough legal instruments available “if the limits of peaceful protest are exceeded”.
The legal policy spokeswoman for the SPD parliamentary group, Sonja Eichwede, made a similar statement. She fears a “further radicalization” of the activists. But the criminal law already offers numerous possibilities to take action against it. She called the Union’s demand for tightening of criminal law “populist”.
Union for minimum imprisonment
The “Bild am Sonntag” had reported that the Union faction wanted to introduce a bill with tightening criminal law in the Bundestag as a reaction to the blockade actions and attacks on works of art this week. Road blockers who obstruct the passage of the police, fire brigade and rescue services should therefore face a minimum prison sentence in the future, and activists should be able to be arrested as a preventive measure if there is a risk of recurrence.
According to the “BamS”, the Union demands a minimum prison sentence for the damage or destruction of cultural assets instead of the fine that has been in force up to now. Climate protest should “not be a license to commit crimes,” said CSU regional group leader Alexander Dobrindt to the newspaper.
The CSU MP Andrea Lindholz, chairwoman of the interior committee in the Bundestag, told the “Welt” that the danger to people from road blockades and the damage to historical works of art “crossed red lines”. The rule of law must react more harshly than before. “We will not stop the increasing radicalization with fines,” warned the CSU politician.
Vigil for dead cyclist
The political and social dispute about the consequences of road blockades and other protest actions by climate activists has intensified since the death of a cyclist in Berlin. The woman was hit and run over by a truck on Monday. According to the fire brigade, a special vehicle that was supposed to help free the injured person under the truck was stuck in a traffic jam on the city highway. This is said to have been triggered by an action by the “last generation”. However, the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” reported, citing an emergency memo, that according to the emergency doctor treating it, the fact that the special vehicle was not available had no effect on the rescue of the injured woman.
According to the police and the public prosecutor’s office, the cyclist died on Thursday from her serious injuries. Several dozen people commemorated the woman at a vigil on Sunday evening.
Group announces expansion of protests
In a statement, the activist group expressed its regret at the cyclist’s death, but also opposed the “wave of accusations, untruths and hate speech” that was being spread about them in the media after the accident. And she announced further actions. “We will take our protest to all areas that will be affected by the climate catastrophe,” activist Carla Rochel told RTL on Sunday.
Your movement is not in a “popularity contest.” The group is “not about being liked – but about making society aware that we are racing into a climate catastrophe.”
Rochel also did not rule out blockades at German airports, such as those in the Netherlands at the weekend. In Amsterdam, climate activists partially paralyzed Schiphol Airport on Saturday.