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

Police raided members of the Jill Letzte, an organization of climate activists. The prosecutor considers the group a criminal organization because it has been carrying out sabotage since April at an oil refinery in the East German town of Schwedt/Oder, on the Polish border. Therefore, the public prosecutor in that region considers the group a criminal organization.

According to the prosecution, the sabotage at the PCK refinery disrupted oil supplies to the rest of the country, endangering “facilities for the population.”

The exact location of the raids was not disclosed. The same group said in its response that the arrested people lived in six different German states. More than 11 people were reportedly arrested, at least five of whom remain in prison to prevent new acts of vandalism. In the raids, which began early in the morning, computers, phones and posters were confiscated.

Last Generation says in response that these raids will not stop the group from drawing attention to the “collapsed climate,” which the group says the government is not doing much about. “We will continue unchanged, because we are the last generation that can still do that.”

The activist group has been in the news frequently in recent months with strike actions and, according to the authorities, with disruptive actions: for example, members of the group recently attached themselves to runways at Munich and Berlin airports.

A spokesman for moderate German climate group Friday for the Future described the raids and arrests as an “extremely exaggerated and absurd response” to a group merely trying to draw attention to… An ongoing climate catastrophe. “The fight against climate activists in this country is being fought with much greater energy than the fight against climate change.”