In seven states, officers searched the homes of members of the “Last Generation”. Website has been suspended, accounts frozen.
Update from May 26, 7:39 a.m.: Amnesty International has issued a statement on the crackdown on the “Last Generation”. The human rights organization writes via the Twitter account “Anmesty Germany” that the investigations have enabled serious interference with fundamental rights.
“The persecution of the ‘last generation’ has reached a new level of escalation. The allegation of forming a criminal organization is serious and momentous,” the post said. “The procedures have a deterrent effect on other climate activists who fear not to exercise their right to freedom of assembly.”
The organization positions itself even more clearly against the display of the Bavarian State Criminal Police Office on the closed old website of the “Last Generation”. The group was referred to here as a criminal organization.
“The mistake of the Bavarian investigators in presenting the allegation as fact is all the more serious,” writes Amnesty International. “This prejudice is not compatible with human rights and contradicts the presumption of innocence.”
“Last generation” allegedly “stronger than ever” after raid – new website online
Update from May 25, 11:15 am: The “Last Generation” does not want to be intimidated by the investigations against them. “We’re back!” the group tweeted Wednesday night. She has set up a new website and writes there: “The state’s action is intended to intimidate, to scare. But we cannot and will not allow ourselves to remain in this fear.”
On Thursday, the activists sent out a message emphasizing: “We are stronger than ever since yesterday.” A wave of solidarity protests have built up nationwide. The demo on Wednesday evening in Berlin was the largest in the group’s history, with several hundred people taking part. “We notice that a lot of support is coming right now. We are growing and we will continue to expand our protest because we don’t do it for fun,” said Raphael Thelen, activist of the “Last Generation”, on Thursday in the ARD “Morgenmagazin”.
Update from May 24, 1:25 p.m.: As part of the nationwide raid, the police also searched the home of spokeswoman Carla Hinrichs. She is one of the three main suspects, as the Augsburger Allgemeine claims to have learned from the search warrant of the Munich district court.
She is accused of “forming a criminal organization”. Together with a mathematician from Augsburg, she is said to have operated the “Last Generation” website, which was shut down by the authorities on Wednesday.
Update from May 24, 12:41 p.m.: “When our democracy is threatened, it is not only our right to resist – it is also our duty,” concludes van Baalen. She repeatedly describes the action taken against the activists as “completely insane”. The group was taken by surprise and hit hard by the nationwide raid, but refuses to be intimidated.
Update from May 24, 12:30 p.m.: Speaker Aimée van Baalen opens the press conference with a dramatic appeal. “The 15 house searches that took place today hit all Last Generation supporters hard. They scare us. But we must not remain in this fear. The federal government is driving us straight into a climate hell, they are even stepping on the gas pedal. We must now continue to resist.”
She calls on all citizens to take part in protest marches. It will be in all major cities in Germany. Starting in Berlin, Munich and Leipzig.
Update from May 24, 11:47 a.m.: The “Last Generation” wants to comment on the nationwide raid. The group has announced a press conference, which will take place at 12 noon. The climate activists had previously reported in a short post on Twitter and questioned the searches – provided with the hashtag “#completely crazy”.
First report from May 24, 11:35 a.m.: Frankfurt – Apartments belonging to members of the “last generation” were searched nationwide. This was announced by the Bavarian State Criminal Police Office in a press release on Wednesday morning, May 24th. This is based on the investigation initiated into the “accusation of forming or supporting a criminal organization”. On Wednesday morning, around 170 police and prosecutors searched the homes of members of the climate protection group in seven federal states.
Nationwide raids on “Last Generation”: Accusation of “criminal organization”
The joint press release by the Munich Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Bavarian State Criminal Police Office states that “nationwide searches and measures to secure assets” were carried out on the last generation. It is the result of an investigation initiated by the Munich Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Bavarian Central Office for Combating Extremism and Terrorism (ZET) on “the suspicion of committing criminal offenses by members of the so-called ‘last generation'”.
According to the BLKA in the press release, the proceedings are against seven suspects between the ages of 22 and 38 and have been based on “numerous criminal complaints from the population” since mid-2022. The accused are accused of “organizing a fundraising campaign to finance further crimes for the ‘Last Generation’, advertising them on their website and thus having collected a sum of at least 1.4 million euros in donations so far”. These funds were “predominantly” used to finance further crimes.
Another allegation in raids by the “last generation”: sabotage – apartments in seven federal states searched
According to the BLKA, two suspects are also suspected of having tried to sabotage the Trieste-Ingolstadt oil pipeline in April 2022 – according to the press release, critical infrastructure in the Free State. On Wednesday morning, a total of 15 apartments were searched throughout Germany – three of them are in Bavaria, in the state capital Munich and in augsburg. In addition, properties in Hesse in the Fulda district, in Hamburg, Saxony-Anhalt (Magdeburg), Saxony (Dresden), Berlin and in the Segeberg district in Schleswig-Holstein were affected by the raids.
The aim was to find evidence of the membership structure, to further clarify the financing and to confiscate assets. “There have been no arrests so far,” it concludes. (fhz)