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Grünheide: An activist rappels down from a tree house
Photo: Christoph Soeder/dpa
In the protest camp at the Tesla factory in Grünheide, there are signs of a conflict between the activists and the police.
After the meeting was extended until next Thursday under strict conditions, some of the people in the forest camp did not adhere to the meeting authority's conditions on the first day after the extension.
Some people slept in the tree houses on Saturday night.
The assembly authorities had banned this due to security concerns.
A spokeswoman for the “Stop Tesla” initiative said on Saturday that they also did not want to comply with the demand to dismantle the tree houses by Monday.
The tree houses are an elementary part of their protest.
According to the Brandenburg Ministry of the Interior, the activists have until Monday to dismantle the tree houses;
Otherwise, this would be seen as a violation of the requirements, according to Interior Minister Michael Stübgen (CDU).
The protest camp could then be evacuated.
The aim of the activists is to prevent deforestation as part of a planned expansion of the Tesla site with a freight station.
They have been occupying a forest area for several weeks.
A majority of the citizens of Grünheide voted against expanding the factory.
In the dispute, the municipality of Grünheide suggests that only about half of the forest be cleared.
The spokeswoman for the “Stop Tesla” initiative announced on Saturday that she wanted to take action against the requirements.
An urgent application against the requirements has been filed with the administrative court in Potsdam.
The authority did not respond to a request as of Saturday afternoon as to whether such an urgent application had been received.
According to its own statements, the initiative does not expect any eviction until a decision has been made on the urgent application.
Interior Minister speaks of increasing radicalization
The residents of the forest camp expect growing support.
More and more people are currently joining the protest, said the spokeswoman for the “Stop Tesla” initiative.
Of course you try to mobilize people, which is not unusual at a demonstration.
According to the initiative on Friday evening, "60 to 80 people" are occupying a part of the state forest in Brandenburg near the Tesla factory, which Elon Musk's company wants to clear if its site is expanded.
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Meeting near Grünheide: Police approve tree house protests against planned Tesla factory expansion
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Interior Minister Stübgen speaks of increasing radicalization around the camp.
Many people involved dreamed of a “Lützerath of the East,” he said on Friday.
They wanted a “European center against eco-fascism.”
This is also why the minister announced that he would “significantly increase” the police presence in the factory area.
It's about preventing possible attacks on Tesla and deterring "previously uninterested, violent" people who now feel motivated to come to Brandenburg.
“Leave it alone, it’s not worth it,” says Stübgen.
The activists had registered the camp as a political meeting, like a demonstration.
Such events are subject to the right of assembly and do not require special approval from the police.
However, they can be prohibited or subject to conditions under certain circumstances.
In the event of long-term occupation of the forest, nature and species protection concerns must also be examined, said Stübgen.
The factory of the electric car manufacturer Tesla has been in the headlines for some time.
On Tuesday last week, previously unknown perpetrators set fire to a freely accessible electricity pylon in a field in eastern Brandenburg, which also ensures the supply to the car factory in Grünheide.
This brought production at the plant to a standstill for days.
The left-wing extremist Vulcan group declared itself responsible for the attack.
According to the company, around 12,500 people currently work in the factory in Grünheide.
The factory opened in March 2022.
abl/dpa