By Sebastian Geisler
“3,2,1, then let’s go,” says the policeman and pulls the air-conditioning sticker off the street, apparently using rough, painful handles so that the man screams. That’s what happened last week in Berlin. For the “Last Generation” blockers, these are “torture-like methods.”
Now Berlin’s police chief Barbara Slowik (57) makes it clear: the police can hurt climate stickers! She defends the physical coercion of police officers against climate glue.
“If a person does not comply with our orders to leave a street, we use measures of direct coercion against them. There is a legal basis for this, on which the police, which have the monopoly on the use of force in this state, can use force,” said Slowik “Berlin Morning Post” to allegations of unlawful police violence.
The Berlin police chief did not want to evaluate the individual case. But it is “due to the rule of law to make it clear that the announced measures of direct coercion can lead to pain”.
The police do not use so-called pain grips that are explicitly intended to trigger pain. “But there are handles that can lead to pain if someone makes themselves difficult or falls or does not follow the given movement and direction impulse,” said the police chief. “Colleagues should explain that.”
“Pain when chewing and swallowing”
A video shows a police officer in Berlin warning a demonstrator who was stuck. He says: “If I cause you pain, if you force me, you will have pain when chewing and swallowing, not just today, but for the next few days.”
The climate sticker replies: “It’s not that bad, you don’t have to do that.” The police officer warns: “Then I’ll ask you to go over now, right now, otherwise I’ll hurt you.” The demonstrator: “I’m sitting peaceful here and you just want to carry me away.” “3,2,1, then go,” says the policeman and, together with a colleague, pulls up the young man, who starts to scream.
“legitimate measures of direct coercion”
Slowik emphasizes that the top priority is that direct coercion is used in a proportionate manner. “What exactly is proportionate is either ordered by the police commander during the operation or the colleagues decide on a case-by-case basis.”
Many people are not aware of what the police are allowed to do. As a result, “legitimate measures of direct coercion, which admittedly do not look nice, are interpreted as police violence in an illegitimate sense”.