Kurt Claßen Meadow situation: #ClimateJustice vs Fascist Era Expriopriation Laws

Comment by an activist

The meadow camp, which has served as a protest and resistance camp and important meeting place for activists since the beginning of the forest occupation, is now to be cleared. Kurt Claßen, owner of the property at the edge of the forest and comrade-in-arms in the fight to preserve the Hambach Forest, filed with the help of his lawyer an appeal against the eviction order by the Arnsberg district government of the compulsory expropriation, planned by RWE, which will delay the trial for the time being. In a statement by Kurt Classen on the illegality of the order of the building authority, represented by the state government, he writes that the threatened eviction order would serve to deprive the activists of the infrastructure for meetings. This violates the fundamental right to freedom of assembly

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Complaint against the immediate and complete eviction of the protest camp at Hambach Forest!

For October 9th, the immediate and complete eviction of the protest camp on the meadow at Hambach Forest was announced. Kurt Claßen, the owner of the meadow, however, submitted the complaint below.
Update: The eviction has been canceled.

 
 
“Dear Mr. Prime Minister,
Ladies and Gentlemen of the Government of North Rhine-Westphalia,

In time and in the exercise of the rights under the Constitution, a complaint was filed today at the department of building inspection of the district of Düren against the intention of the NRW regime for immediate and complete eviction of the protest camp at the Hambach Forest.

If this constitutionally guaranteed right of complaint should be disregarded and tomorrow the complete and immediate eviction of the protest camp should begin, the NRW-Regime has to assume that immediately after tomorrow the immediate and complete shutdown of the open pit Hambach will be started, otherwise only later.

Best regards
Kurt Claßen, 10/8/2018 “

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Press Release 09/13/2018

MASS EVICTION OF FOREST OCCUPATION, LARGE SOLIDARITY PROTESTS

Today the struggle for the Hambacher Forst reached a long awaited climax.

Early in the morning the police gathered its forces from all over the state, and alongside Special Deployment Commando (SEK, German SWAT teams), several eviction-tanks, water-canons, climbing-officers, and technical units, started preparing for their biggest escalation so far, the continuation of eviction of the climate-justice occupation camp in the 12,000 year old forest.
It was clear from the beginning, as information had also reached us the day before, that the early hours would bring with it the deployment of the largest police action in the history of the state of NRW.

Entering the forest from the Secu-road at the eastern entrance, by the Deathtrap/Lollipop occupation, the police had to first evict a sitting blockade of catholic pilgrims, before they could even begin the eviction of the first barricade, which, once begun, took several hours. After having arrested the occupiers of the first barricades, a tripod and a monopod, and violently attacking a protester, they were able to continue with the eviction of the two treehouses at the entrance, Deathtrap and Lollipop. Shortly after the break of noon, the police entered at the northernmost occupation, fittingly named The North, and began evicting people from hammocks, as well as treehouses. The eviction continued through the day, with police being strongly present in all parts of the occupied forest.

In protest of the eviction of the forest occupation, the violent escalation of the police, and the cutting of the forest, despite the formerly announced cutting-stop supposed to last until October 14th, a demonstration of 1600 people walked from the nearby village of Buir towards the forest. A wide spectrum of people, from all over the region, children as well as seniors, showed a strong sign of solidarity with the campaign for the preservation of the forest, and the climate-justice occupation camp. As the demonstration reached the Mahnwache, a smaller protest “headquarters”, the police forbade it to continue. Despite the orders of the police, the demonstration continued to walk towards the Meadowcamp outside the forest, where a group of around a hundred people, in support of the civil disobedience campaign Aktion Unterholz, broke through police lines and entered the forest, in order to block police and RWE equipment, and spread out their ressources.

Despite the eviction of encampments in the occupied forest, the arrest of several activists, and the destruction of parts of the unique eco-system in the forest, the message of the day was as clear as a bonfire in the night: the movement is strong, will keep struggling against the injustice of the state of NRW and energy-giant RWE, and will definitely continue acting for climate justice in the Rheinish lignite-mining area, and all over Germany!

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Press release from the Hambach Forest – Meadow search and partial evacuation

Today, on 28/08/2018, there are partial evictions in the meadow camp of the Hambach Forest occupation as consequence of a search. The purpose of this search is to provide evidence of past actions and to seize items to carry out further actions.
As part of this mission, which began at 7:20 clock, there were over 30 sending-offs and also some arrests.
As a result of the five-day long police operation, the Hambach Forest has now been declared a danger area, ie. no people are being let in right now.

We strongly condemn the escalating actions of the police. The violence emanating from the police is in no way de-escalating, and the destruction of livelihood with the legitimation of confiscation of dangerous objects is unacceptable.

The Press Group

For further information: press_hambachforest@nullriseup.net

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