Raid against German climate activists, prosecutor says ‘criminal group’

The police searched members of the Generation Letzte, an organization of climate activists. A prosecutor considers this group to be a criminal organization because it has been carrying out sabotage actions since April at an oil refinery in the East German town of Schwedt/Oder, on the Polish border. The public prosecutor of this region therefore considers the group to be a criminal organization.

The sabotage of the PCK refinery would have disrupted the oil supply to the rest of the country, endangering “installations for the population”, according to the prosecutor.

The exact location of the raids has not been revealed. The group itself says in a response that those arrested live in six different German states. More than eleven people have reportedly been arrested, of whom at least five are still in prison to prevent further sabotage actions. In the raids, which began early in the morning, computers, phones and posters were seized.

The “Last Generation” says in a response that these raids will not stop the group from drawing attention to “climate collapse”, against which the group says the government is doing too little. “We will continue without change, because we are the last generation who can still do it.”

The group of activists has been in the news more often in recent months with strike and, according to authorities, disruptive actions: for example, members of the group recently stuck to the runways of Munich and Berlin airports.

A spokesperson for the more moderate German climate group Fridays for Future called the raids and arrests a “grossly overblown and nonsensical response” to a group that is simply trying to draw attention to the ongoing climate catastrophe. “The fight against climate activists in this country is fought with much more energy than the fight against climate change.”