From BZ/dpa
According to information from Brandenburg, the interior ministers of the federal states also want to discuss the consequences of road blockades by climate activists at their autumn conference.
“We will then also decide and take appropriate measures,” announced Brandenburg’s Interior Minister Michael Stübgen (CDU) on Wednesday in the state parliament in Potsdam.
This includes the question of possible gaps in the penal code. So there could be a distinction between a kind of trespassing and a disruption of critical infrastructure. “Nobody had that on their screens,” he said.
“Anyone who acts illegally is not a demonstrator, but a criminal and must expect that they will be prosecuted and punished with the full severity of the rule of law,” says Brandenburg Interior Minister Michael Stübgen (CDU). Photo: Soeren Stache/dpa
The topic takes place nationwide, even if Berlin is the clear hotspot. In preparation for the conference of interior ministers from November 30 to December 2 in Munich, a possible joint proposal for a resolution should be drawn up in Berlin on Wednesday, Stübgen said.
Anyone who protests must register a demonstration, name a leader and follow police instructions. “On the other hand, it is not legitimate to stick to the streets and accept that you are endangering others,” says Stübgen. “Anyone who acts illegally is not a demonstrator, but a criminal and must expect to be prosecuted and punished with the full severity of the rule of law.”
240 blockade actions in Berlin this year
According to the police, there were around 240 blockades in Berlin this year by the end of October, said the Brandenburg Minister of the Interior. For Brandenburg, he cited as examples the occupation of the entrance to the PCK refinery in Schwedt by climate demonstrators in March, as well as abseiling from a bridge on Autobahn 10 and being stuck on the entrance to the company premises on the occasion of the opening of the Tesla factory, also in March.
In the past few weeks, climate demonstrators had blocked roads in Germany and other European countries and stuck there, causing traffic problems. They also stuck themselves to paintings in museums and splattered works of art with food without damaging them – including at the Barberini Museum in Potsdam.
The activists want to point out their call for a more decisive fight against climate change. After protests in art museums, Federal Minister of Justice Marco Buschmann (FDP) is examining whether the legal framework for penalties is sufficient.