On day four of the IAA Mobility motor show, the conflict between climate activists and the state intensified. The “Last Generation” (LG) wants to legally end the preventive detention of climate activists. According to the LG, 29 members are currently in preventative detention in Bavaria, so the police and courts want to prevent further road blockages. On Friday, an objection was lodged against the detention of two activists who, according to a decision by the Munich district court, should remain locked up for 30 days.
The LG considers this to be unconstitutional. The organization is supported by Markus Krajewski, law professor at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg: “30 days of preventive detention are always disproportionate and therefore unconstitutional.” Taking such action against people who are peacefully protesting for constitutionally required climate protection is “completely absurd and incompatible with a free, democratic basic order.”
Another conflict between the climate movement and the police can be observed around the mobility transition camp in Luitpoldpark. A spokeswoman said there were 900 activists in the camp on Friday. The permanent meeting is registered for 1,500 people, which is how many are expected on Saturday. Because unannounced protests against the IAA have been announced for the weekend, the police increased their controls around the camp, especially at the Scheidplatz subway station.
This annoys Thomas Lechner, left-wing city councilor and meeting leader. In an interview with the SZ in the middle of the week, he praised the police’s cooperative actions, but on Friday he was disappointed: the controls when people leave the camp are disproportionate. Personal details are often recorded even if nothing suspicious is found when people and bags are searched. Lechner believes this is a violation of the fundamental right to freedom of assembly. This includes arriving and leaving the meeting place anonymously.
On Friday afternoon, for example, you can see how two young people, colorfully dressed and equipped with musical instruments, are registering their personal details. The police didn’t find anything suspicious on them, they assure you. Lawyer Marco Noli, who works in the emergency legal service for the activists, considers this to be “unlawful.”
Police spokesman Andreas Franken defends the approach. He speaks of “selective controls” that serve to “avert danger” and “prevent crimes.” Superglue was seized in more than five cases. Registering personal details is the decision of the controlling officers; there is no general requirement. In general, however, he emphasizes: “We act in a meeting-friendly manner.”
While 4,500 police officers from all over Germany are on duty for the IAA in Munich, also to prevent disruptive actions, on Friday a good 150 activists from “Sand im Gear” blocked an access gate to the BMW factory in Dingolfing. They are calling for a move away from “profit-oriented individual transport” and a massive expansion of public transport, which must be free.
In Munich on Friday afternoon, the “Last Generation” was active again, this time with a blockade with music. In front of the university on Friday afternoon, six activists from the “Last Generation”, including the Jesuit priest Jörg Alt, blocked Ludwigstrasse in both directions. They didn’t stick to each other, but they had the “Sounds of Life” group with them. Eight musicians accompanied the protest with violin, bassoon, flute, drum and singing, and two danced in the street. The group, whose members come from southern Germany, was formed in the peace movement in the 1980s and is now active in various climate protests for a mobility transition. Wolfgang Rund explained the reason for participating via megaphone: “We are here because we want a future worth living for our children and our children’s children.” After about three quarters of an hour, the police ended the blockade, the cars started moving again and “Lebenslaute” continued to play.