Protests have been held. - No Bike Demonstration Permitted on Highway 23, Rules Court
Activists in the "A20 Nie" group are not allowed to stage a cycling protest on the A23 motorway in Steinburg on Sunday. This was decided by the Schleswig Administrative Court in an urgent hearing on Tuesday (Case No. 3 B 64/24), as confirmed by a court spokesperson. The activists had requested an urgent hearing against the ban on their bike demonstration by the district.
The district had previously forbidden the use of the motorway. The court reasoned that it was not unreasonable for the district to prioritize safety and traffic flow on the motorway over the freedom of assembly and to deny a motorway closure. The police couldn't ensure the necessary security for traffic on the motorway during the demonstration.
The court also mentioned that the motorway section wasn't essential for exercising the right to assemble. The organizer of the demonstration, with approximately 500 participants, could be expected to deviate from the suggested routes by the district. These routes largely followed parallel to the A23 and had a close connection to the theme of the demonstration, which is the planned expansion of the A20 with an A20/A23 intersection.
The environmental activists wanted to travel on the A23 from both directions on Sunday, riding opposite each other to the Hohenfelde junction, where they planned to leave the motorway and continue along the planned route of the A20 to Glückstadt, where a closing ceremony was scheduled to take place. They have two weeks to file an appeal against the Administrative Court's decision with the Higher Administrative Court.
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- Despite the ban, environmentalists in the "A20 Nie" group planned a "Bicycle demo" in Schleswig-Holstein's Steinburg district on Sunday, intending to cycle on the A23 freeway.
- On hearing of the district's denial, the activists sought an urgent hearing at the Administrative Court in Schleswig, arguing against the ban on their bike demonstration.
- The public order office in Schleswig-Holstein's Steinburg district had initially prohibited using the motorway for the bicycle demonstration, citing safety concerns and traffic flow.
- Environmentalists hoped to stage their "Action day" on Sunday, with around 500 participants traveling on the A23 from both directions and meeting at Hohenfelde junction before continuing to Glückstadt for a closing ceremony.
- As an alternative, environmentalists considered holding demonstrations on suggested routes in the Steinburg district, which closely followed the A23 and paralleled the planned expansion of the A20 and the A23 intersection.
Source: www.stern.de
