Climate activists charged after paint attack

Protest action - Climate activists charged after paint attack

Almost three months after the first paint attack on the Brandenburg Gate, the Berlin public prosecutor's office has filed charges against six climate activists. The members of the Last Generation group are accused of criminal damage to property, and three men and one woman are also accused of resisting law enforcement officers, according to a spokesperson for the authorities on Tuesday.

They are said to have been involved in the paint attack on September 17, in which the symbolic landmark was sprayed with orange-yellow paint. According to Berlin's real estate management, the damage amounted to 115,000 euros.

Cleaning work was costly

According to the public prosecutor's office, a total of 14 proceedings have been initiated against suspects in connection with the action. The investigations are still ongoing. One of the main reasons for this is that in 6 of the proceedings, decisions still have to be made on complaints by the suspects against confiscations.

The cleaning work was time-consuming and was only completed at the beginning of December. Around two months after the first paint attack, the gate was once again smeared with orange paint by members of the Last Generation.

Serious crimes committed by the group

These actions have contributed to the fact that Berlin is once again investigating whether the Last Generation group should be classified as a criminal organization. As she told the German Press Agency, the group's "more serious criminal acts" were the reason for Public Prosecutor General Margarete Koppers to commission the investigation. In addition, Koppers explained that a decision had now been made by the Munich Regional Court in the investigation proceedings of the Munich Public Prosecutor General's Office.

In November, the regional court ruled that nationwide searches of members of the Last Generation on suspicion of membership of a criminal organization were lawful. In Berlin, the public prosecutor's office has so far denied any such initial suspicion.

Koppers emphasized that the investigation was carried out with an open mind. "We are exercising professional supervision here and are not taking the place of the public prosecutor's office. We will analyze the requested statement. If it is justifiable, I will accept it," explained the Attorney General.

More than 3200 cases at the Berlin public prosecutor's office

Activists from the group have been repeatedly convicted by various courts across Germany in recent months, including after street blockades, but mostly for other offenses such as coercion. In comparison, a conviction for forming a criminal organization could result in harsher sentences - possibly up to five years in prison.

Since the start of the group's activities, the Berlin public prosecutor's office alone has received 3234 cases (as of December 11), according to a spokesperson for the authorities. The accusations are often directed against the same person. Several proceedings are then combined. The authority has so far brought 120 charges and applied for a conviction by summary penalty order in 1053 cases, said the spokesperson. In 191 cases, it applied to the court for a decision in accelerated proceedings, in 54 cases unsuccessfully. So far, there have been a total of 99 final convictions against climate activists, said the spokesman for the public prosecutor's office.

Traveled from several cities for the paint attack

In the case now being prosecuted for the first paint attack on the Brandenburg Gate, the charges are directed against three women from Hamburg (27 years old), Berlin (34) and Leipzig (27) as well as three men from Ravensburg (26), Stuttgart (31) and Prague (51).

According to the indictment, the woman from Hamburg and the woman from Berlin allegedly used a prepared fire extinguisher to pour non-water-soluble paint onto a pillar or paint on the ground between the pillars and spread it in September. Meanwhile, the three other climate activists are said to have tried to reach the landmark with the help of a lifting platform in order to hang a banner and also spread paint.

However, police officers intervened to prevent this. According to the indictment, this resulted in the risky deployment of two police officers: Because the climate activists did not want to be stopped, the officers only reached the control panel of the lifting platform at a height of more than two meters - hanging from the outside of the vehicle.

It is not yet clear when the trial at the Tiergarten district court will begin. The court must first admit the charges.

Statement from the public prosecutor's office