The former president of Germany’s Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), which serves as the country’s domestic intelligence agency, has called for the far-left, eco-activist group Last Generation to be treated as a threat to the country’s free and democratic order.
In a commentary piece penned for Junge Freiheit, former BfV chief Hans-Georg Maasen, insisted that—in light of the mounting number of criminal cases pending against members of the group for property damage, blocking road traffic, and financing a criminal enterprise—not only is it long overdue that the Last Generation be classified as a criminal organization but that the group ought to be classified as a threat to democracy.
Maasen’s call comes a month after the State Protection Senate of the Higher Regional Court in Potsdam ruled that there was “at least an initial suspicion of the formation of a criminal organization under Section 129 of the penal code.” The former BfV head’s comments also come days after Berlin’s new Senator for Justice Felor Badenburg, announced that the public prosecutor’s decision not to classify the Last Generation as a criminal organization will be reviewed.
Commenting on the group’s near-daily protests and demonstrations across Germany, especially in Berlin, over the past few months, Badenburg told DPA: “As a society, we cannot approve of the fact that people here want to use violence to get their way. I find that absolutely irresponsible.”
“What irritates me about the Last Generation is the form of protest they choose. I find it stressful that the activists use violence—in the legal sense—to coerce other people every day,” she added, referencing the group’s penchant for blocking traffic.
For Maasen, however, designating the group is not enough. He says the group behaves like a “mafia-like clan,” and “pursues political goals that endanger the free and democratic basic order.”
The Last Generation “want a different state in which climate protection has absolute priority and democracy or the rule of law are no longer important. That must be prevented,” Maasen concluded.
Maasen’s call also comes after German police, during the early morning hours of Wednesday, May 24th, raided 15 homes of members of the “Last Generation” who are suspected of helping to finance a criminal enterprise.
The Bavarian State Criminal Police, which is responsible for the case, said in an official statement that the defendants are “accused of organizing a fundraising campaign to finance crimes for the Last Generation.” Through a fundraising campaign, the police believe the accused collected at least €1.4 million in donations—money that mainly has been used by members of the Last Generation to commit crimes.
