Climate change group legally branded a ‘criminal organization’

A German court has ruled that the activities of the Last Generation constitute a threat to public safety and order

The Last Generation climate change group has been designated as a “criminal organization” by the Munich Regional Court, which announced the ruling on Thursday after considering ten complaints from the climate activists over searches and seizures.

The court dismissed the complaints, ruling that the Last Generation meets the requirements to be considered an organized crime group – arguing that committing crimes does not necessarily need to be the only purpose of a group to be designated as such.

The court said the group’s activities, including disrupting traffic and damaging property, constitute a significant threat to public safety and order.

The Last Generation group emerged in 2021, formed from participants of the ‘last generation hunger strike’, a protest action to demand a “public conversation about the climate emergency” with the candidates at the time for chancellor of Germany. The action involved camping out in Berlin’s government district, as well as disrupting traffic in the city.

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The group has since grown, remaining active primarily in Germany, Austria, and Italy. The Last Generation activists have blocked major traffic routes and airports, disrupted the work of facilities related to the fossil fuel industry, as well as staging attacks on museums, with the goal of bringing attention to climate change issues.

These activities have placed the group in the media spotlight, attacking paintings by artists such as van Gogh and Monet. The methods of the Last Generation activists are similar to those of the UK-based ‘Just Stop Oil’ group, and have involved smearing foodstuffs on paintings covered with protective glass.

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