This week, two trials took place in Germany in which four academics from Greece, France and Germany had to answer for their peaceful protest against the failure of German politics in the face of the climate crisis. Once again, members of the Scientist Rebellion group were convicted without the courts addressing the distressing facts of the climate crisis.
Scientist Rebellion: repeatedly in court
Scientist Rebellion is an international movement of scientists and academics from more than 32 countries calling for peaceful civil disobedience in the face of policy failure regarding the climate crisis. However, the group’s members are increasingly being targeted by the state – as these latest convictions show.
At the Munich II Regional Court, two academics were sentenced to 90 daily rates (daily fines) each for damage to property and trespassing, while another person’s case was dropped in exchange for a fine.
At the same time, the Berlin Regional Court heard the appeal of a geology professor who had been sentenced to a fine at first instance for his protest.
The defendants argued that their actions were necessary to mitigate the impending climate catastrophe by pressuring the government to act in accordance with international agreements and the alarming data from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). This highlighted the urgent need to rapidly decarbonise society, for which there is only a window of opportunity of a few years left.
The trial in Munich was the second of several court cases brought against the 16 members of Scientist Rebellion.
Germany: the state arresting peaceful protesters
The academics had already spent a week in custody in Stadelheim prison immediately after their protests at the investment company BlackRock and the car manufacturer BMW:
You can the Canary‘s coverage of the protests here.
When determining the sentence, which was significantly lower than expected, the judge took into account that the damage caused by the water-soluble sugar syrup used was minor.
Nicolas, an environmental engineer from France, said:
I am relieved to finish the trial after having experienced a lot of anxiety from this unjustified repression. I have mixed feelings, but I want to appreciate the solidarity from many people that I’ve experienced in this journey. However, I’m also super angry about the threats of criminal records and huge fines for trying to ring the alarm about the reality of the climate crisis, illustrating the toxicity of the system. We must continue to fight.
After the trial, Agisilaos Koulouris from Greece said in response to the verdict:
In the midst of climate collapse, disruptive actions are justified, proportional and necessary. If climate activists are convicted, then justice really is blind.
The appeal proceedings of Prof Froitzheim, who had blocked a bridge in Berlin’s government district together with 15 other scientists, were rejected despite his plea for a justifiable state of emergency. The scientist, a professor of structural geology at the University of Bonn, commented:
In this trial, more than in previous ones, I had the feeling that I was talking to a wall. The court was not prepared to deal with my motives and my despair, as if the climate crisis would solve itself if those who draw attention to it were silenced.
The appeal proceedings of another member of Scientist Rebellion last week showed that judges can also reach different judgements. Although the physicist took part in the same action as Prof Froitzheim, the Berlin Regional Court confirmed his acquittal on 11 January 2024, which had already been determined at first instance.
Featured image and additional images via Scientist Rebellion
