– Neuruppin public prosecutor’s office uses “sniffing paragraph” –
Supporters of the last generation have been demonstrating against the application of §7.30 since 129:XNUMX a.m. this morning. More pictures here.
Berlin, October 09.10.2023th, 8.25, XNUMX:XNUMX a.m – The case against the Last Generation for forming a criminal organization reaches the next stage.
The Neuruppin public prosecutor's office intends to bring charges against the Last Generation by the end of 2023. This is what the responsible public prosecutor Gregorian told one of our lawyers in a telephone conversation. The accused should be given the opportunity to comment in October and the trial will then begin.
Large parts of the files are now piled up on our lawyers' desks: thousands of pages about the last generation, a total of 30 GB of PDF documents, divided into 89 folders with numerous subfolders. All protests that have ever taken place in Brandenburg can be found here. When you skim through the pages, you read about a hundred different names - including people who just picked up their friends from the police station.
While the so-called “sniffing paragraph” [1] was generally used in social movements in the past as a pure investigative tool [2], it is now about intimidating civil society. [3] It is the first time that Paragraph 129 has been used against the climate movement.
Legal scholar Dr. Andre Bohn classifies this alarming development: “The planned indictment is a new kind of escalation against political participation in civil society and opens the door to even more restrictive policies. This is not about the last generation, but about the democratic rights of all of us.”
The consequences of the investigation alone are significant: raids in the early hours of the morning, wiretapping, location surveillance - and not just against last generation supporters. Journalists were also affected by telephone surveillance, and two companies that had only printed flyers and delivered demo material for Fridays for Future were searched. Reporters Without Borders (RSF), the Society for Civil Rights (GFF), the affected companies and Fridays for Future are suing against the measures. [4],[5]
It is shocking how Section 129 is applied here. The state is constructing an opportunity to use all means possible to criminalize those who advocate for more climate protection or even just support others in doing so. [6]
Our democracy only works with the energy and ideas of civil society. In the midst of many crises, we and numerous other movements remind the government to respect its own laws. At the moment, supporters of the last generation are once again blocking the streets in Berlin and making it clear that things cannot continue like this.
The answers to their commitment are such investigations and now a foreseeable indictment. What kind of sign is this to all citizens who are involved in civil society?
Sources
[1] Explanation of the snooping paragraph at ZEIT online.
[2] There were numerous investigations against them Anti-nuclear movement (pp. 9-11), the anti-genetic engineering movement G8 protests in 2007 and also corresponding demands in Mutlangen (peace movement). As a rule, such proceedings required serious offenses (arson, attempted endangerment of human life, etc.) and most proceedings were dropped.
[3] The intimidation of civil society occurs, among other things, through mechanisms that Referred to in law as “chilling effects”. (section “Intimidation and deterrence”).
[4] Reporters Without Borders takes action against surveillance.
[5] The mirror above Action against Fridays for Future.
[6] See Section 129 of the Criminal Code.