The main hearing against four climate activists who had glued themselves to Nuremberg’s Frankenschnellweg in February last year began at the Nuremberg District Court on Wednesday. The two men, aged 30 and 65, and two women, aged 24 and 25, are accused of coercion. The accused are said to have glued themselves to the busy arterial road with one hand each. The result was traffic chaos with waiting times for drivers of up to an hour or more.
The public prosecutor’s office in Nuremberg had sent penal orders to the accused, who belonged to the group “uprising of the last generation”. Because these were not accepted, there is now a main hearing. According to the activists, the public prosecutor’s office had demanded prison sentences of nine months, which should be suspended on probation.
The climate activists described this as an attempt at intimidation. One of the accused made a statement on the website of the Last Generation Alliance. She doesn’t think it’s particularly likely that such a harsh sentence will come about. She and her co-accused only warned of compliance with the Basic Law.
A verdict from the district court is expected on Wednesday. Dozens of climate activists marched past the courthouse in the morning.