First, the judiciary was accused of being too hesitant and lenient with climate activists after road blockades – now the Tiergarten district court is facing a wave of criminal proceedings and the first trials.
On August 30, the charges against a 20-year-old from Leipzig will be heard. The public prosecutor’s office had applied for a penalty order against him for a fine of 30 daily rates of 15 euros – i.e. 450 euros – but he appealed. Therefore, the court hears the indictment publicly. A trial against a 59-year-old from Munich for three road blockades on January 26th and 28th follows on September 1st. He did not want to accept the penalty order for 50 daily rates of 50 euros – i.e. 2500 euros.
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Overall, the public prosecutor’s office has completed the investigations into more than a hundred blockers and has applied to the court for penal orders. All cases involve coercion and resistance to law enforcement officials. In July, 59 procedures were completed, in August there were 55 cases by Friday. Further investigations are ongoing, so far no penal order has become final.
[If you want all the breaking news live on your phone, we recommend our app, which you can download here for Apple and Android devices.]Even if the court upholds the fines, it remains to be seen how much the activists will be hit . The “Last Generation” is already raising funds to pay police bills for roadblock operations. The police demanded 241 euros for the removal of the activists’ hands that were glued to the streets, which is why they are also called “climate glue”. Since the beginning of the first wave of blockades in January and the second wave in June and July, 63 fee notifications have been sent out so far. The “Last Generation” has already collected 16,700 euros in donations, which means that the fees can be paid around 70 times over.
A further 181 fee notices are in the works at the fines office. So far, 15 demonstrators have paid the fees, and 13 others have appealed. The administrative court is not aware of any urgent applications to create the so-called suspensive effect of the objection. Due to the small amount, such requests are given little chance of success. In addition, there are countless fines for violations of the Assembly Act.
The “Last Generation” group repeatedly blocked freeway exits over the course of several weeks of action and demanded that the federal government take tougher steps against climate change. Demonstrators have repeatedly been attacked by angry drivers and dragged off the road. The police call physical harm, coercion, threats or insults, but cannot say how many crimes committed by drivers they have recorded: “Automated research into which of these crimes recorded across the city are related to a blockade is not possible.”
