last generation
Eisenreich rejects criticism of the raid
Georg Eisenreich (CSU), Minister of Justice of Bavaria, was informed about the proceedings against the last generation. photo
© Sven Hoppe/dpa
At the end of May, a raid was carried out against climate activists. They were accused of belonging to a criminal organization. Bavaria’s Minister of Justice Eisenreich now justifies the procedure, but also admits mistakes.
Bavaria’s Justice Minister Georg Eisenreich (CSU) has rejected criticism of the controversial search of environmental activists of the last generation. In the interior committee of the Bavarian state parliament, he contradicted in particular speculation and assumptions that the CSU-led state government had actively promoted the action in order to consciously set an example.
“The ministry has not issued any instructions regarding the investigations and has not otherwise influenced the investigations,” he emphasized. However, Eisenreich admitted that a warning from the authorities on a confiscated website was initially incorrect.
crackdown on criticism
At the end of May, around 170 officers searched apartments and business premises in seven federal states during a raid against the last generation, according to the Munich public prosecutor’s office and the Bavarian State Criminal Police Office. The charge is to form or support a criminal organization.
The activists deny being criminals, although several members of the group have been convicted of criminal offences, some to prison terms. The raid was criticized by many as excessive. The group complained that its members felt “treated like criminals”.
Ministry of Justice found preliminary investigations “justifiable”
According to Eisenreich, a criminal complaint by a lawyer was the reason for the investigation, and there are now 13 criminal complaints against members of the last generation. The initial suspicions against individual members had also been confirmed by an independent court, and the search warrant had been issued by an independent court.
As is usual in such cases, the Ministry of Justice was informed several times about the procedure. There, however, it is only checked whether the actions of the public prosecutor’s office are justifiable. And in that case, the assessment was that this was even “justifiable”. But there were only the reports and no agreements, it said.
The shutdown of the group’s website was also widely criticized at the time, with the note “The Last Generation constitutes a criminal organization pursuant to Section 129 of the Criminal Code”. The authorities had to backtrack immediately and emphasized that there was only an initial suspicion that it was a criminal organization.
Eisenreich admitted that the wording gave him an incorrect impression. The public criticism was therefore justified. “In the preliminary proceedings, the presumption of innocence applies, of course, there is no doubt.” And that must also apply to every statement made by a public prosecutor.