Activists in eastern Germany have also been trying for a long time to prevent the clearing of a forest to expand an open-cast mine. In the Laußnitzer Heide in Saxony, the police are now moving in and clearing a protest camp. The resistance is low, the clearing starts immediately.
The police have started clearing a protest camp against gravel mining in a forest in the Laussnitzer Heide in Saxony. A height intervention team was deployed to clear the tree houses, according to the police in Görlitz. Activists were asked over loudspeakers to leave the area.
In the morning, the officials had initially started to check the conditions of a general decree in the forest. They had made an evacuation of the Heidebogen dependent on the result of this inspection and initially left it open. Because the conditions had not been met, the meeting in the forest had ended, it said. The officials spoke of a "peaceful" operation.
Two tree houses and a tripod were cleared. Seven activists who were inside were taken to the ground. Three activists had taped themselves, one of them to a pipe. However, the majority of the demonstrators left the tree houses voluntarily.
In addition, ground structures such as barbed wire, wooden barriers and ditches were removed. The officials initiated investigations against three activists, two of them on suspicion of resisting the police. Another was initiated on suspicion of violating the Narcotics Act. An activist was taken into custody for resistance, according to a spokeswoman.
In addition, deforestation has already begun. The state enterprise Sachsenforst issued a residence and entry ban. The area was cordoned off by a fence. A road was also closed for the operation. The police announced that the lockdown is expected to last a few days. According to their own statements, the officials had been preparing for the operation for weeks.
Meanwhile, the administrative court in Dresden rejected an urgent application against the eviction. The judges ruled that there was no doubt that the dissolution was lawful. The activists should therefore have registered their meeting. That didn't happen. In addition, the continuation of the meeting would lead to a concrete danger to public safety. The area of the camp is in a restricted area.
Environmentalists have been occupying the Heidebogen forest in the Laußnitzer Heide since 2021. They are protesting against deforestation of the area for the expansion of the nearby gravel quarry. On January 23, a deadline expired by which the activists would have had to clear the camp and the tree houses. Since then, a major police operation to clear the area has been expected to begin.
The Green Youth of Saxony condemned the eviction and called for an end to the gravel quarrying. "Today's situation proves once again that capital interests (...) make the goal of a habitable planet impossible for everyone," said state spokeswoman Ella Hanewald. She accused the police of not seeking justice, but of standing up for injustice "in the name of an unjust law."
