- Court: Interception of climate activists' press conference allowed
The Munich Regional Court I has ruled that the secret tapping of conversations between journalists and press spokespeople of the "Last Generation" was lawful. The court argued that the phone number in question belonged to a suspect against whom investigations were ongoing for suspected formation of a criminal organization. Without phone surveillance, the investigations would have been "significantly hindered". The court dismissed five complaints from journalists against corresponding orders of the Munich Local Court, stating that the surveillance was not directly targeted at media representatives and that the tapped number was not exclusively used for calls with journalists.
Lawyer Nicola Bier of "Reporters Without Borders" criticized the decision, stating that "journalistic work requires confidential communication" and that "press freedom and, in this case, telecommunications secrecy should have been given particular consideration during the criminal investigations."
"Reporters Without Borders" and the Society for Civil Liberties, which supported the two complainants, stated that they consider the phone surveillance to be unconstitutional, despite the court's decision. They will now examine further legal steps, with a constitutional complaint being the only remaining option in this case.
The complainants had previously been unsuccessful at the Munich Local Court. The court had ruled in late November 2023 that its own approval of the surveillance was lawful, citing the significant threat to public safety posed by the actions of the climate activists as justification. The surveillance was described as an "intensive, but brief intervention."
The Bavarian State Criminal Police Office, acting on the instructions of the Munich Public Prosecutor's Office, had tapped several phone connections, including a press contact of the group, in the fall of 2022. The measure was ended in late April 2023, according to the investigators. The measure had led to strong criticism, particularly because the Local Court had not even explicitly mentioned press freedom in the original order for phone surveillance, along with its reasoning.
When tapping phone connections, especially when those involved are holders of professional secrets such as journalists, the authorities are obliged to weigh the interests involved, and a strong suspicion of a serious crime is usually required.
The Munich Public Prosecutor's Office has been investigating several members of the "Last Generation" for over a year on suspicion of forming a criminal organization. In the course of these investigations, several residences of group members were searched in a nationwide raid in May 2023. The Munich Regional Court I later ruled that the search action was also lawful.
The ruling by the Munich Regional Court on the phone surveillance case highlighted the complexity of balancing legal investigations with the importance of confidential communication in journalism, as lawyer Nicola Bier of "Reporters Without Borders" pointed out. The climate activists, whose phone connections were tapped, operate in an environment that often requires discreet communication, making the issue of phone surveillance particularly sensitive in such cases.
