Justice
Last generation: Authorities confiscate too much money
Activists from the climate protection group “Last Generation” and other groups block the Straße des 17. Juni in Berlin. photo
© Paul Zinken/dpa
During investigations against the Last Generation, the Munich district court had almost 800,000 euros confiscated. But less than ten percent of the money actually belongs to the activists.
As part of the Bavarian investigations against Last Generation activists, around 725,000 euros too much was confiscated. The money belonged to other customers of a financial start-up. The A spokesman for the court said the Munich regional court had classified the confiscated sum as disproportionate. “Zeit Online” previously reported.
The background: The activists had invested around 70,000 euros with the start-up Elinor. The company offered so-called group accounts, for example for choir groups, according to the founder. The money is not in a separate account, but is only virtually allocated to the respective group as credit. As part of the investigation against Last Generation, the authorities confiscated almost 800,000 euros from Elinor, according to the company, a larger part of the assets.
The decision came too late
The company turned against this – with success. From the court’s point of view, the other customers’ interest in being able to dispose of their money outweighs them. The confiscation of the entire amount was disproportionate. On December 7th, the regional court partially overturned the May decision of the Munich district court. Start-up founder Lukas Kunert said: “The decision strengthens our trust in the rule of law. Unfortunately, that was too late for the many groups that had already used Elinor.” The company therefore had to cease operations.
Elinor stated that she had already canceled the Last Generation group account in March 2023 due to the “divisive effect”.
The Munich Public Prosecutor’s Office is investigating last generation climate activists on suspicion of forming a criminal organization. During a raid in May, numerous officers searched properties in seven federal states.