Climate activists under suspicion
Nationwide crackdown on members of the Last Generation
The Last Generation group has become the target of a nationwide raid. The climate protectors describe this as an “attempt at intimidation”
© Swen Pförtner / DPA
Police in several states have searched the homes of members of the Last Generation group. After attacks on the PCK Schwedt oil refinery, the public prosecutor’s office is investigating a serious suspicion.
Investigators have nationwide searched rooms of the climate activists of the group Last Generation. Prosecutor Cyrill Klement in Neuruppin in Brandenburg announced on Tuesday that there are eleven objects throughout Germany. “A little more than eleven people” are being investigated for disrupting public services. However, the suspicion of the formation of a criminal organization is also being examined. This could be the case if the accused repeatedly agreed to commit crimes, explained Klement.
Last generation speaks of “attempted intimidation”
Last Generation spokeswoman Carla Hinrichs confirmed the deployment on Tuesday. “My home was searched this morning,” she wrote on Twitter. “It’s scary when the police go through your closet,” she added. “But do you seriously think we’re going to stop now?” According to the organization, laptops, cell phones and posters were confiscated.
In another tweet, the group criticized the police action as an “attempt at intimidation”. “We stand behind what we do with face and name – if there is a desire for information, there is no need for a house search,” the activists wrote.
According to Klement, the background to the raid are several attacks by climate activists since April on plants at the PCK Schwedt refinery. Among other things, the oil supply was interrupted. In some cases it was just an attempt. Since the spring, members of the last generation had repeatedly interrupted the oil supply to the PCK Schwedt refinery at pumping stations in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Brandenburg. For this, activists had penetrated the premises of the pumping stations. According to Klement, an object in Brandenburg was searched.
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With 1,200 jobs, PCK Schwedt is the most important refinery for supplying East German petrol stations with fuel. Because of the planned oil embargo against Russia from next year, the federal and state governments have been trying for months to find alternative supply routes for the refinery.
Again and again, the climate activists of the last generation make a name for themselves with road blockades where they stick themselves to the asphalt. After climate activists invaded runways, air traffic at the airports in Berlin and Munich was also disrupted. In numerous museums, activists sprayed works of art with liquids and stuck themselves there to draw attention to their concern for more climate protection.