Alina W. enters the courtroom with a smile, greets her lawyer and sits in the dock. The 22-year-old is self-confident, you can tell. Dressed in a blue blouse, white trousers and sneakers, she is the typical image of a Berlin student. The reason why she is appearing before the Tiergarten District Court today is no longer exceptional.
She is a “climate gluer” and has to answer to a law enforcement officer for coercion and resistance after a road blockade. It should be an accelerated procedure – that means that a quick decision can be made based on the clear facts. But her lawyer Ralf Monneck doesn’t want to make it that easy for the judge.
Right at the beginning of the proceedings, Alina W.’s defense attorney applies for a standard procedure to be carried out. The incident on December 5, 2022 would be too long ago for an accelerated procedure. In addition, there would not have been enough time to inspect the files and the accused would be at a disadvantage due to the accelerated procedure, because details would be lost.
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Ralf Monneck read the application for almost 20 minutes, spoke of “obviously politically intended to make negotiations more difficult” and referred to the current investigations into the “last generation”. Proceedings against the activists, according to the lawyer, are often accelerated – to the detriment of the accused. Attempts are being made to establish a “special judiciary”.
Judge Simon Herold-Steinhof remains unmoved. After the application has been submitted, there is a brief verbal exchange of blows with Monneck, then the judge says: The application will be decided later. Herold-Steinhof wants to move forward.
“Pinpricks” and provocations
But first, further applications will follow; for an immediate decision on the first application (rejected), for the proceedings to be postponed in order to have more time to inspect the files (also rejected) and finally for the proceedings to be stayed and referred to the competent court (again rejected). “This tactic of – I’ll call it pinpricks – is not conducive to the process,” Judge Herold-Steinhof commented sharply. He wanted people to treat each other sensibly. He repeatedly reminds the defense counsel that he is giving the floor as a judge.
Finally, after a 30-minute break, Monneck files a motion for bias. The dialogue remains tense, the lawyer leaves the room. Alina W., his client, stays behind. However, this is no reason to interrupt the main hearing, says the judge. The indictment is read. Then, three hours after the start of the trial, the summoned witnesses can finally be questioned.
Two are police officers. Sergey L. was actively involved in the effort to get Alina W. and four of her comrades-in-arms off the street. His colleague Jenny M. was secretary. He can hardly remember exactly, but she can still report many details with certainty. Jenny M. speaks of “banners with climate policy content” that the demonstrators had with them, of the “twenty to thirty meters of traffic jams” that had already formed when they arrived, and of how colleagues used cooking oil to solve the glue and the participants individually carried to the sidewalk.
Then a motorist affected by the action is also questioned. Berat A. is an IT specialist and was on his way to work when he got stuck in a traffic jam at the intersection of Potsdamer Strasse and Varian-Fry-Strasse. The 27-year-old talks calmly about how he was able to avoid the traffic jam after 30 minutes: “That’s just Berlin.”
Finally, the bodycam recording of a police officer is viewed. Not much can be seen and heard on the compilation: heavily overexposed demonstrators, including Alina W., car horns and other noise. The evidence is not as simple as hoped.
No end in sight
After the lunch break, the judge explains that the situation is more difficult than expected. He sets the procedure. There will now be a normal trial, the witnesses will be heard again, evidence introduced. After a total of almost five hours of negotiations, everyone in the room is grateful. Even lawyer Monneck, who withdrew the motion for bias at the last minute. Thus, the public prosecutor’s office failed again with its application to conduct accelerated proceedings against climate activists.
Recently, the “last generation”, as it appears in the media, has lost momentum. That’s why there should be no more actions in Berlin in the next few weeks, but instead in Bavaria. The activists only want to return in the fall.