Eviction of Lützerath: Mutual allegations of violence | tagesschau.de

As of: 01/15/2023 3:18 p.m

Activists report hits on the head and “life-threatening injuries”, the police say they know nothing about it. While the evacuation of Lützerath continues, both sides accuse each other of violence – but much remains unclear.

After clashes between demonstrators and police officers on Saturday in front of the embattled village of Lützerath, both sides have accused each other of violence. A “high two-digit to three-digit number” of participants were injured, said a spokeswoman for the demonstrators’ paramedic service.

Among them were many seriously injured and some critically injured. The injuries were partly caused by pepper spray, batons and fist attacks by the police. There were a lot of head injuries.

“Systematically hit on the head”

“So the police not only hit activists in the head in individual cases, but systematically,” said the spokeswoman.

There was no confirmation for this. According to their own statements, the police are not aware of the fact that several participants were said to have been fatally injured. A demonstrator fell unconscious on Saturday, a police spokesman said. This person was treated immediately and then transported away in an ambulance. It was already found in the car that there was no danger to life.

Overall, the police know of ten trips by ambulances in connection with injured demonstrators. The police could not confirm that there had been a rescue helicopter operation.

Police report 70 injured

The police had previously denied allegations of police violence. Andreas Müller, spokesman for the police, said that WDR: Anyone who breaks through the police lines and does not obey the orders must first be accused of deliberately and deliberately seeking confrontations with the police. Regarding the police’s actions, he said, “these are situations that we will analyze and evaluate after the operation.”

The police, for their part, had spoken of more than 70 injured police officers. Most of them were injured on Saturday, said a police spokesman. The injuries were only partly due to violence by demonstrators. Some of the officials, for example, also twisted their ankles in the muddy ground.

150 criminal cases

A police spokesman said that since Wednesday, when the evictions began, around 150 criminal proceedings have been initiated for resistance against police officers, physical harm and breach of the peace. According to the information, individual demonstrators also attacked police cars on Saturday and threw pyrotechnics in the direction of the officers. The energy company RWE said it was “appalled at the aggression and violence.” This has nothing to do with the otherwise peaceful demonstration.

The state chairman of the police union (GdP), Michael Mertens, also spoke of massive attacks by some of the demonstrators on the police.

thousands of protesters

On Saturday, thousands demonstrated in the neighboring town of Keyenberg, mostly peacefully. The police spoke of 15,000 participants, “Fridays for Future” of at least 35,000.

According to the police, around 1,000 mostly masked “disturbers” tried to get to the closed-off area of ​​​​Lützerath at the edge of the demo.

demolition is in progress

Meanwhile, the demolition of Lützerath is progressing rapidly. Most of the buildings were no longer standing on Sunday. According to their own statements, the police have meanwhile taken down all the remaining activists from tree houses and trees. However, two climate activists were still holding out in an underground tunnel on Sunday afternoon.

Activists announced further protests. At a press conference on Sunday, the representatives of “Ende Gelände”, “All Villages Remain” and “Fridays for Future” acknowledged the participation of tens of thousands of people in the protest around Lützerath as a sign of hope for climate protection in Germany and worldwide. More peaceful actions “with the whole range of civil disobedience” are to follow in the coming week, including a day of action on January 17.

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

source site