After the week of Extinction-Rebellion in Berlin there had been a striking number of criminal proceedings, says the left-wing MP Michael Efler.

XR-Protest to the mill dam bridge: The police photo: Sebastian Wells.

BERLIN taz | the Extinction-Rebellion-protest week from 7 carries one of the protesters away. to 13. October has given it, according to the links group, a surprising number of arrests. "The number of criminal cases is strikingly high," said the Deputy, Michael Efler on Thursday, the taz.

From the hitherto unpublished answer of the Senate to a request Eflers: In the protest of the week 103 criminal proceedings have been initiated, of which 56 are due to resistance against law enforcement officers and 21 for violating the Assembly law. "For peaceful actions, such as those in the case of Extinction Rebellion, the are very many," said Efler.

The high number is from Eflers point of view, "that the conditions for the offence in the case referred to in the question offences were lowered in the last few years that you have blockages in the frame of the seat, or similar demonstration of the forms are very quickly fulfilled". The Amendment to the criminal code at the Federal level means so that it is now easier investigations because of passive resistance offences, to initiate. Since Extinction Rebellion (XR) serve exactly the forms of such Demonstration, have led to the Change to the increase in criminal proceedings.

In the case of the offences referred to in the Assembly act it was violations, such as, for example, goddamn mask, presumed to be Efler. "Some of these points should be covered in the opinion Casino Siteleri of the left group under the criminal law." Whether criminal prosecutions are needed to be made according to Efler then.

The many of the criminal proceedings did however reflect again, that it had come in the protest week to riots and acts of violence. "Despite the high number of the protests were very peaceful and respectful," says the MP.

thousands of people were in on the action week

For XR is the peaceful Protest of the XR-involved view of climate week is not a contradiction to the many criminal, says Friederike Schmitz of the climate movement of the taz. "The civil disobedience we break the rules consciously to the existential crisis in our society." Also, for these peaceful protests, you could get criminal charges.

Now support the movement all have to answer now, legally. "We are grateful that people have taken such personal risks to themselves, to protest against the inaction of the government," says Schmitz. On the week of action, several thousand people took part according to their statements, in Berlin in protests, such as the car blockade on the Large star.

finally, the climate movement was noticed because of a statement made by XR co-founder Roger Hallam in an Interview. The British environmental activist had played down the Holocaust repeated. "XR Germany distances itself clearly from it, and of Hallam," says Schmitz. This applies as well for his statements on sexism and racism. In a previous Interview, he was struck by the statement that someone who "thinks a little bit sexist or racist", in the case of the climate movement should get involved.