Last generation - Paint attack on Brandenburg Gate - indictment
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 joint 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.
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 six of the proceedings, decisions still have to be made on complaints by the suspects against confiscations.
Complex cleaning
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.
In the current case, 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 and spread non-water-soluble paint on a pillar or on the ground between the pillars 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.
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- Following the 115,000 euro damage caused by a paint attack on Berlin's symbolic landmark, the Brandenburg Gate, the public prosecutor's office in Germany indicted six climate activists from Last Generation for joint criminal damage to property.
- The case involves three men and one woman from Hamburg, Berlin, Ravensburg, Stuttgart, and Leipzig, who are accused of using non-water-soluble paint and resisting law enforcement officers during the demonstration in September.
- The paint attack, which occurred on September 17, was one of several Demonstrations related to climate justice in Berlin, prompting the public prosecutor's office to initiate a total of 14 proceedings against suspects.
- The court in Berlin's Tiergarten district is yet to admit the charges and set a trial date, but investigations are still ongoing due to confiscation complaints in six of the proceedings.
- The Last Generation group, with members from Germany and other European countries, has been advocating for climate justice and has been involved in multiple protests and Demonstrations in Germany, causing concerns over damage to property.
- This case highlights the increasing tensions between environmental activists and law enforcement officers in Germany, as well as the growing concerns over climate change affecting the last generation's future.
- Germany, as a leading country in Europe, is under pressure to address climate change and transition to a greener energy future while maintaining law and order, a balance that continues to produce ongoing discussions and actions in the political and social arenas.
Source: www.stern.de
