AFP extension
ANNOUNCEMENTS•
The police searched the members of the last generation, an organization of climate activists. A prosecutor believes this group is a criminal organization because it has been carrying out sabotage actions at an oil refinery in the eastern German town of Schwedt/Oder, on the border with Poland, since April. The prosecutor of that region therefore considers the group a criminal organization.
The sabotage at the PCK refinery would have cut off the supply of oil to the rest of the country, endangering “population facilities”, according to the prosecutor.
Spread across six states
The exact location of the raids has not been disclosed. The group itself claims in a response that those arrested live in six different German states. More than eleven people were allegedly arrested, of which at least five are still in custody to prevent new sabotage actions. In the raids, which began in the early hours of the morning, computers, telephones and posters were seized.
“Last Generation” says in a response that these raids won’t stop the group from drawing attention to the “collapse climate,” about which the government is doing too little. “We will continue unchanged, because we are the last generation that can still do it.”
Glued to the runway
The group of activists has been in the news more often in recent months with sensational and, according to the authorities, disruptive actions: for example, members of the group have recently glued themselves to the runways of Munich and Berlin airports.
A spokesperson for the more moderate German climate group Fridays for Future called the raids and arrests “a grossly exaggerated and absurd response” to a group that is simply trying to draw attention to the ongoing climate catastrophe. “The fight against climate activists in this country is being fought much more energetically than the fight against climate change.”
