Status: 08.01.2023 3:49 p.m
A Hamburg police operation against climate activists caused criticism: early on Sunday morning at the ZOB, officials stopped a coach with 50 demonstrators who were on their way to a protest in Lützerath in North Rhine-Westphalia.
The bus was held by the police for a total of three hours, all the demonstrators were filmed, their luggage searched and their personal details taken. The state protection of the police, who feared that criminal offenses could be committed, was responsible for the measure. Among other things, superglue was seized during the campaign.
“Feels like pure harassment”
Annika Rittmann from the climate movement “Fridays for Future” sharply criticized the police operation. The Hamburg resident said to NDR 90.3: “This means that people are being criminalized and prejudiced – even though they only wanted to go to a registered protest action. The operation feels like pure harassment,” says Rittmann. Climate activist Luisa Neubauer called the action on Twitter a “criminalization of a climate-driven civil society”.
The coach was organized by the Hamburg author and podcaster Katja Diehl. She also confirmed to NDR 90.3 that dozens of police officers were deployed near the main train station. The destination of the bus was the village of Lützerath in North Rhine-Westphalia, which the energy company RWE wants to demolish for coal extraction in order to excavate the coal underneath.
Goal: protest in Lützerath
However, climate activists have occupied the abandoned settlement and want to oppose the announced eviction. On Sunday Hundreds of protesters gathered at the site. The black-green state government in North Rhine-Westphalia wants to have the village cleared by the police – possibly in just a few days. The state government points out that, in return, the phase-out of coal has been brought forward by eight years to 2030.
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