No police charges for climate activists after three months
Three months after a new scale of charges came into force, climate activists of the Last Generation in NRW have not yet been charged for police operations. This was confirmed by the Ministry of the Interior when asked. According to a spokesperson, each individual case must be examined in detail from a legal perspective. Invoices could therefore still be issued following past street blockades.
The first Last Generation action that could fall under the new scale of charges took place on the day it came into force. On August 12, eleven activists had stuck themselves to roads and had to be removed by the police. Depending on the effort involved, up to 50,000 euros can now be charged for such operations.
According to a spokesperson, the Bielefeld police are still examining the "charging of costs on the basis of the new charges". They are in contact with the Düsseldorf Ministry of the Interior about this. In fact, the fee schedule is legally controversial. At an expert hearing in the state parliament in mid-August, legal experts raised doubts about the structure.
According to a recent paper prepared by the Ministry of the Interior for the state parliament, the police "have information on 73 people from North Rhine-Westphalia who belong to the Last Generation group."
Despite the Bielefeld police still examining potential charges for the August 12 demonstrations, no police charges have been levied against the Climate activists from the Last Generation in NRW following the introduction of new charges three months ago. The ongoing discussions about the legality of the new fees schedule add complexity to the situation.
Source: www.dpa.com
