Protest action - Paint on Brandenburg Gate: charges against climate activists
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 common 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, complaints by the suspects against confiscations still have to be decided.
The cleaning work proved to be time-consuming and was only completed at the beginning of December. Around two months after the first paint attack, the gate was 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 access the landmark using 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 incident, numerous demonstrations in support of the climate activists took place at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin.
- The public prosecutor's office is also considering additional indictments due to further evidence emerging from the ongoing investigations related to the environmental protest action.
- The damage caused by the color attack on the Brandenburg Gate has sparked controversies and debates about the roles of justice, activism, and environmental consciousness in society.
- The indictment further states that the activists, in an act of resistance, attempted to hang a banner with climate-related messages, causing further damage to the iconic monument.
- In response to the charges, several public figures and climate advocacy groups have voiced their support for the activists, calling for a more comprehensive dialogue about climate change and its consequences.
- A woman from Munich, actively participating in the climate movement, has organized a series of planning sessions for a large-scale protest action aimed at highlighting the importance of environmental justice in major European cities, including Berlin and London.
Source: www.stern.de
