The police had begun the process of evacuating the environmental activists holed up in the homes of the village of Luzerat on Wednesday morning.
Today, Thursday, the German police continue to remove demonstrators from the village of Luitzerat, which the authorities decided to completely demolish to make way for the expansion of a coal mine.
Footage from the Associated Press showed police removing environmental activists from a building where they were camping, while others were moving around on rooftops lighting torches.
“More than 200 activists have left the site voluntarily so far,” said district police chief Dirk Wiensbach, whose force is responsible for removing the demonstrators.
He added, “It is scheduled to complete the removal of everyone from the village today, Thursday, before work on the expected project resumes.”
The police had begun the process of evacuating environmental activists holed up in the village’s homes on Wednesday morning.
What is the story of this village?
The issue of the village of Luitzerat raises widespread environmental controversy in Germany, against the background of the project that the country intends to implement to increase its energy production.
Last Tuesday, the environmental protesters refused to comply with a court ruling that effectively bans them from entering the area, so some dug trenches and built barricades in an attempt to prevent machinery and bulldozers from reaching the village.
Studies indicated that about 110 million tons of coal can be extracted from the bottom of the aforementioned village, which prompted the authorities in the country to work on demolishing the town’s homes.
According to the government, this coal is needed to ensure Germany’s energy security, which has been diminished by the cutting off of Russian gas supplies due to the invasion of Ukraine.
previous court ruling
Taking part in the action, Maya Rolberg, a 26-year-old student who traveled from southern Germany to join the protests, said: “Nobody wants to be out here in the cold right now to defend a forest or a village.”
“But I think people have realized that they have to do this in order to protect future generations,” she added.
For his part, Stefan Bosch, who works in the official administration of the region, said that he sympathized with the goals of the demonstrators, but stressed that “it is time to abandon the abandoned village.”
The last residents of the village left in 2022, after being forced to sell their home to the German energy company “RWE”.
The law is ultimately on their side, some climate activists said, citing a 2021 ruling by the country’s Supreme Court that forced the government to step up its efforts to cut polluting emissions.
