NAfter the blockade actions and attacks on works of art by the Last Generation group, the Union wants to impose tougher penalties on their activists. According to a report by “Bild am Sonntag”, a corresponding application, which is to be submitted next week, is currently being prepared. Road blockers who obstruct the passage of the police, fire brigade and rescue services should therefore face a minimum prison sentence in the future, and activists should also be able to be arrested as a preventive measure if there is a risk of recurrence.
For the damage or destruction of cultural assets, the Union is also demanding a minimum sentence of imprisonment instead of the fine that has been in force up to now.
Climate protest should “not be a license to commit crimes,” said CSU regional group leader Alexander Dobrindt of “Bild am Sonntag”. “Much tougher penalties for climate chaos are needed to counteract further radicalization in parts of this climate movement and to deter imitators,” said the CSU politician. The emergence of “a climate RAF” must be prevented. Dobrindt was referring to the Red Army Faction (RAF). For decades, the RAF were considered the epitome of terror and murder in the Federal Republic. More than 30 people fell victim to left-wing terrorists between the 1970s and the early 1990s.
Debate about the consequences of climate protests
After the death of a cyclist who was run over by a cement mixer in Berlin, the social conflict over the consequences of climate blockades has intensified significantly. The cyclist died from her injuries in hospital on Thursday. A special fire brigade vehicle was stuck in a traffic jam on Monday due to a road blockade by activists of the last generation and was therefore delayed to the scene of the accident. The Berlin police therefore filed criminal charges against two protesters for, among other things, failure to provide assistance. Politicians from various parties criticized the protests after the accident.
Berlin’s governing mayor, Franziska Giffey (SPD), called on the demonstrators to rethink this incident. “This terrible event must be a wake-up call for all those who speak of peaceful protests,” Giffey told the “Bild am Sonntag”. Critical protest is part of a democracy, but it “definitely exceeds every limit if it endangers human life,” said the SPD politician. For activist comments like “Shit happens. It’s a climate fight” she lacks “any understanding”. It is now the task of the police and the courts to determine and assess the circumstances in such cases.
According to judicial information, there have been six trials against members of the last generation in Berlin, four of them against adults. Fines were imposed in each of these four cases. A seventh trial took place on Friday – a 56-year-old activist was also fined for taking part in three blockades in January and February.
