German police continued to crack down on anti-coal protesters who are camped out in an abandoned town that is scheduled to be demolished for the expansion of coal production.
A large force of German police surrounded the western German town of Luetzerath on Wednesday and continued to block further protesters from entering the village. Police then moved to continue the forced evacuations of the anti-coal protesters camped out there, according to a France 24 report.
“The first aid team was forcibly removed from the camp,” said Mara Sauer, a spokeswoman for the activists, according to France 24. “Only a few were able to remain in hiding.”
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Activists barricaded in a barn sit on the roof after police entered the building in the Luetzerath settlement in Germany.
(Sean Gallup/Getty Images)
The town has become a flash point for anti-coal protesters in Germany, who are frustrated by the country’s inability to switch from fossil fuel sources to greener forms of energy.
The protester encampment once numbered around 2,000, but efforts by police to root them out have reduced their number to around 200 as of Wednesday.
Activists sounded alarms as police began pouring into the camp on Wednesday, with some protesters clinging to trees while others built structures on high ground in an attempt to evade officers.
Protesters led anti-police chants from loudspeakers, while some started an impromptu violin concert from the rooftops of an abandoned house in an attempt to cheer up the other protesters. Others tied themselves up inside metal barrels and resisted police attempts to dissuade them.
Riot police next to a multi-storey wooden structure built and still occupied by activists in the Luetzerath settlement in Germany.
(Sean Gallup/Getty Images)
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“We can’t untie them, not today anyway. For that, we need special scissors,” a police officer said.
“We have other things to do right now, one thing at a time,” added another.
Police said on Wednesday the operation to clear the remaining protesters could take weeks, while a German government spokesman told France 24 the government understood the debate over the city to be “very emotional.”
Riot police in front of a farm where activists entrenched themselves in the Luetzerath settlement in Germany.
(Sean Gallup/Getty Images)
Despite this, the spokesperson argued that there is a “clear legal situation” that allows digging in the town to extract coal, and encouraged the protesters to respect the law.
“This is part of our democratic understanding, it is part of an agreement, and this is the current law. The government therefore expects the law to be respected, and the police are there to enforce the law,” the spokesperson said. , adding that the police “would have no sympathy” for the violence.
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Police also warned against violence, taking to social media to urge protesters to “cease and desist throwing Molotov cocktails.”
Police charge a protester to clear a road in Luetzerath, Germany, on January 10, 2023.
(AP Photo/Michael Probst)
But reporters and witnesses on the ground near the town have said most of the protesters have been peaceful, with one protester saying he has not seen any violence from police or protesters.
“Everything happened calmly, we were singing Christmas carols, then one of my classmates was picked up and I was dragged off with him,” said Eire, a college student in her 20s.
The police promised that those detained in the cleanup operation will not be arrested, but also said that the protesters will be taken out of the city and prevented from returning.
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Police take away activists in the Luetzerath settlement, Germany, on January 11, 2023.
(Andreas Rentz/Getty Images)
The show of force was made necessary as a result of an agreement whereby RWE, the energy company that owns the neighboring mine, would expand its operations into Luetzerath to extract coal, which would require the demolition of the rest of the abandoned town.
On Wednesday, the company took to social media to urge protesters to cooperate with efforts to clear the city, arguing that the expansion of coal mining in the area is necessary amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the crisis. resulting energy in Germany.
“Luetzerath coal is needed… during the energy crisis to use less gas in electricity generation,” the company wrote.
