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Thursday, November 26, 2020
Fight for the Dannenröder Forest
Ecologist kicks police officer in the head
Police are moving to Dannenröder Forest to clear a large protest camp against the construction of the A49. But environmentalists do not voluntarily abandon their tree houses. Apparently one of them even accepts a dangerous fall from a policeman.
During their large-scale operation in the Dannenröder Forest in Hesse, the police cleared the central protest camps of the forest occupants. Emergency services brought people from trees or wooden structures into one of the camps with about a dozen tree houses, as reported by a police spokesman. A person kicked a police officer in the head at a height of about ten meters during the operation. The event was shown, among other things, in a live broadcast. “In this context, criminal proceedings have been started,” police said.
Trees are cut down in the Dannenröder forest for the construction of Autobahn 49. To prevent this, environmental and climate protectors have occupied the forest for more than a year and set up camps of tree houses and numerous barricades, which the police has been clearing step by step since November 10. There were always dangerous incidents. Activists have repeatedly accused the police of putting lives in danger in the evictions.
So far, two activists have been injured in two crashes. A police officer is said to have been responsible for the first of the two cases, which, according to the Gießen prosecutor, had previously cut a rope that was connected to the frame. The connection should not have been visible to the officer.
During today’s evacuation, posters with life-threatening warnings hung between the tree houses. According to the police, the activists have chained themselves to concrete blocks that fall when ropes are cut to reach the tree houses. Police are also investigating an alleged homicide attempt after a frame made from tree trunks fell towards police officers. The officers were able to jump to the side and were unharmed.
Environmentalists call for blockade
In the camp there are 13 tree houses at a height of 20 meters.
(Photo: imago images / Hartenfelser)
Police have now ruled on the allegations. In one on Wednesday video posted on Twitter said a police spokesman that some of the allegations made by activists in the Dannenröder forest were related to specific facts known to the police and which are currently under investigation. At the same time, the spokesperson described other accusations by the activists as “thrown into the room” and for the police, neither geographically nor temporally determinable and therefore incomprehensible. “I totally disagree with these general allegations,” the police spokesman said.
Around 85 hectares of forest must be cut down to close the gap on the A49, 27 of them in the Dannenröder forest. According to the Vogelsberg district, construction of the motorway should begin in September 2021. Preparatory work is currently underway. Proponents expect less traffic and better road connections. Opponents reject the project, for which there is a building law, for reasons of climate protection. The organization “Endelassung” tries to avoid the clearing of the forest with blockades like last weekend. Environmentalists are also calling for a peaceful protest action on social media for next Sunday.
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