DoomsdaysCW<p><a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Surveillance" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Surveillance</span></a>, <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/raids" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>raids</span></a> and <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/arrests" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>arrests</span></a>: <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Europe" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Europe</span></a> cracks down on ‘<a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/DirectAction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>DirectAction</span></a>’ <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/climate" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>climate</span></a> protests </p><p>Some countries are invoking legal powers often used against <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/OrganisedCrime" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>OrganisedCrime</span></a> and <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/extremist" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>extremist</span></a> groups.</p><p>By Euronews Green with Reuters<br>Published on August 10, 2023</p><p>"<a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/SimonLachner" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>SimonLachner</span></a> had plans to glue himself to a German city thoroughfare in June to call public attention to <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/ClimateChange" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>ClimateChange</span></a>. Instead, he ended up in police custody before he'd even left his home.</p><p>"Lachner, 28, is one of thousands of <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/activists" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>activists</span></a> caught up in a European crackdown on direct action protests which gathered pace last year. <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Protesters" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Protesters</span></a> are demanding urgent government action against climate change.</p><p>"<a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Roadblocks" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Roadblocks</span></a> on major motorways in <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Britain" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Britain</span></a> have caused traffic chaos, protests at <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/oil" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>oil</span></a> installations in <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Germany" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Germany</span></a> have disrupted supplies, and in <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/France" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>France</span></a>, thousands of activists and police clashed over <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/water" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>water</span></a> usage, leaving dozens injured.</p><p>"Determined to prevent such protests from strengthening further, states in Germany and national authorities in France are invoking legal powers often used against organised crime and extremist groups to wiretap and track activists, Reuters found, based on conversations with four prosecutors, <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/police" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>police</span></a> in both countries and more than a dozen protesters.</p><p>"In <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Berlin" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Berlin</span></a> alone, police have spent hundreds of thousands of hours working on more than 4,500 incidents registered against the 'The <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/LastGeneration" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>LastGeneration</span></a>' and '<a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/ExtinctionRebellion" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>ExtinctionRebellion</span></a>' groups, according to previously unreported data from police.</p><p>"State authorities in Germany are widely using preventative <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/detention" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>detention</span></a> to stop people from protesting, including holding at least one person for as long as 30 days without charge. </p><p>"This is permissible under Bavarian law, the prosecutors consulted by Reuters said.</p><p>"Lawmakers passed new surveillance and detention laws in France in July and in Britain in May. Britain is making it illegal to lock, or glue, yourself to property.</p><p>"France has used an anti-terrorism unit to question some <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/ClimateActivists" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>ClimateActivists</span></a>, the police confirmed to Reuters.</p><p>"The governments in Germany and Britain said the response to the protests was aimed at preventing damaging criminal actions. The French government declined to comment but has previously said the state must be able to combat what it calls 'radicalisation'.</p><p>"Activists say they turned to direct action after the failure of other protest strategies. <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/CivilDisobedience" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>CivilDisobedience</span></a> has a long history in <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/SocialMovements" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>SocialMovements</span></a>, including in the fight for the vote for women and the US <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/CivilRghts" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>CivilRghts</span></a> movement."</p><p>Full article:<br><a href="https://www.euronews.com/green/2023/08/10/surveillance-raids-and-arrests-europe-cracks-down-on-direct-action-climate-protests" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">euronews.com/green/2023/08/10/</span><span class="invisible">surveillance-raids-and-arrests-europe-cracks-down-on-direct-action-climate-protests</span></a></p><p><a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/BigOilAndGas" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>BigOilAndGas</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Fascism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Fascism</span></a><br><a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Corporatocracy" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Corporatocracy</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/ClimateJustice" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>ClimateJustice</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/OilAndGasIndustry" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>OilAndGasIndustry</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Environment" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Environment</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/HumanRights" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>HumanRights</span></a></p>