A group of climate protection activists got stuck twice within a few hours on a main thoroughfare in the center of Munich. Now the Bavarian police law is applied – to an extent that is rare.
Munich (dpa/lby) – Twelve climate protection activists have to remain in police custody for 30 days after two sticking actions on a central traffic junction in Munich. “It’s very, very rare that this is used, it’s really a big exception,” said a spokesman for the Munich police headquarters of the German Press Agency on Friday.
According to the Bavarian Police Tasks Act, citizens can be detained for up to one month on the basis of a judicial decision in order to prevent the commission of an administrative offense of considerable importance to the general public or a criminal offence. This period can be extended by a maximum of one additional month.
On Thursday afternoon, 17 climate protection activists from the “Last Generation” group blocked the multi-lane old town ring road at Stachus in both directions. 15 of them had glued themselves to the roadway with one hand. This caused obstructions in both directions at the Stachus for more than two hours. Those involved, between the ages of 18 and 79, were charged with coercion and violations of the Assembly Act. Nevertheless, 15 of them repeated the same action a few hours later in the same place. The operation ended just before midnight.
Bavaria’s Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann (CSU) had already made his point of view clear at this point: “We can under no circumstances allow this dangerous breach of the law to become the norm. This is unacceptable and must be legally pursued with all consequences,” he told the media group Bavaria. At the weekend, 15 activists from the “Scientist Rebellion” group were taken into custody in Munich after a series of street blockades, tape actions and damage to cars – but only for a maximum of one week.
After the repeated street blockade by “Last Generation” activists, the district court went further. According to the police, those involved had announced further blockade actions. She therefore applied to the district court for police custody until December 2 for the 15 repeat offenders. The judges confirmed this for twelve people. One person will remain in custody until Wednesday, two should be released on Saturday night.
“These people don’t need pity from us, they need us to stand up, join the resistance ourselves and demand the first simple security measures from the government,” said a spokeswoman for “Last Generation” when asked. “We knew that in Bavaria there was a risk that we would be locked up for a longer period of time, but that didn’t stop these people because we know that if we don’t change direction now, we’ll be racing into a climate catastrophe.” So far, the longest police custody imposed on activists in Germany was five days.
