Status: 01/15/2023 10:57 a.m
The evacuation of Lützerath continues – and with it the protest. Activists are still holding out in a tunnel. Yesterday’s clashes left casualties on both sides.
The police continued the evacuation of the occupied lignite town of Lützerath. Police rescuers attached to a crane were trying to get to the activists in the trees, a spokesman said.
According to the police, only a few protesters are still in the lignite town. A police spokesman estimated the number of people in the single digits. According to a local activist, about 20 people are still on the site.
Two activists are still holding out in a tunnel. The fire brigade regularly checks a ventilation device. The THW is on call to support the RWE factory fire brigade should there be a danger to human life, a spokeswoman for the THW told dem WDR.
Quiet night
Large parts of the site were floodlit early in the morning. Excavators drove onto the site to demolish more buildings. According to reporters, Sunday night was quiet.
Greta Thunberg calls on demonstrators to hold out – demolition of the last houses is progressing
Juliane Flyschmidt, WDR, daily topics 11:37 p.m., 14.1.2023
Injured on both sides
On Saturday, thousands demonstrated against the eviction in the neighboring town of Keyenberg – including the Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg. On the fringes of the demonstration, there were clashes with the police. According to police, people were injured on both sides.
According to the police, more than 70 police officers have been injured so far. Most of them were injured in the protests by coal opponents on Saturday, a police spokesman said. The injuries were only partly due to violence by demonstrators. Some of the officials, for example, also twisted their ankles in the muddy ground.
“Incredible level of police violence”
Demonstrators were also injured. No one knows how many there are. Since the start of the evacuation of Lützerath on Wednesday, around 150 criminal proceedings have been initiated, for example for resistance against police officers, physical harm and breach of the peace.
A spokeswoman for the activist group “Lützerath Leben” raised serious allegations against the police. At the demo on Saturday there was “an unbelievable level of police violence,” she said. One person from the ranks of the demonstrators was taken to the hospital in a life-threatening condition. The procedure for the evacuation of Lützerath itself was rabid and ruthless. “It’s a miracle there haven’t been any deaths here,” said the spokeswoman. The police deny this allegation and assure them that they will proceed with extreme caution.