• In Lützerath, in North Rhine (Germany), for more than two years, a ZAD prevented the German group RWE from extending one of its coal mines.

    On January 11, the authorities wanted to put an end to this savage occupation and dislodged the militants.

  • Following the authorities' operations, thousands of demonstrators, including activist Greta Thunberg, joined the site to protest against this "shameful" project.

  • Clashes broke out, resulting in injuries on both sides.

    150 activists were arrested during the demonstrations.

    20 Minutes

    summarizes the course of these demonstrations.

In the small town of Lützerath, in North Rhineland (Germany), between the activists and environmental activists and the police, nothing is going well.

That day, the police officers forcibly evacuated the ZAD from this hamlet.

For good reason, about 300 activists prevented the creation of an extension of a huge open-pit lignite mine, one of the largest in Europe, operated by the German energy company RWE.

Following the action of the public authorities, thousands of demonstrators gathered and scuffles with the German police broke out.

20 Minutes

takes stock of the resistance of anti-coal environmentalists.

Why has the situation degenerated in less than a week?

Between Düsseldorf and Aix-la-Chapelle, in the hamlet of Lützerath, 300 anti-charcoal activists had been living for more than two years in makeshift huts and other squatted places.

Since January 2, the police have begun to slowly evacuate the area around the ZAD.

But at dawn on January 11, the arrival of police reinforcements from all over Germany allowed the hamlet to be stormed by lightning.

"They took the first aid team out of the camp by force," said Mara Sauer, a spokeswoman for the activists, on the day of the evacuation.

“Only some were able to stay in hiding,” adds the ecologist.

Others managed to stay high.

Clinging to cables, damp from the rain, the occupants move from tree to tree, above the police forces.

The atmosphere was calm on the spot, according to AFP journalists, even if the police called on the demonstrators via Twitter to refrain from "throwing Molotov cocktails" and to adopt "non-violent" behavior.

These hundreds of activists lived on this site to prevent the German giant RWE from expanding its huge open-pit coal mine, one of the largest in Europe.

Following the operation, thousands of demonstrators, accompanied by Greta Thunberg, who also spent a few hours in police custody following the demonstrations, arrived on the spot with the slogan: "Prevent the evacuation !

For climate justice”.

Why did violence break out over the weekend?

Saturday, in the muddy fields of the Rhineland, thousands of demonstrators - 35,000 according to the organizers, 15,000 according to the police - equipped with jackets and colorful K-way to protect themselves from the driving rain, blocked the site.

Some scuffles however broke out at the beginning of the afternoon between demonstrators and the police, targeted by fire from pyrotechnic devices, who were trying to keep them away from the hamlet of Lützerath surrounded by fences, according to AFP journalists.

“The police barriers were broken down.

To people in front of Lützerath: ''Get out of this area immediately!'', tweeted the police who also reported the intrusion of demonstrators on the site of the mine.

On television images, a row of police in riot gear, helmets and equipped with shields, protected the edges of the pit from the deep mine several tens of meters deep which the demonstrators approached.

“Some people entered the mine.

Get out of the danger zone immediately!

“, tweeted the police again on Saturday.

"The police had to use water cannons and are still trying to block access to the demonstrators", who are showing "violence", said a police spokesman on Saturday.

At least 20 activists were taken to hospital, said Birte Schramm, a first aid worker with the village's Occupy movement.

She specifies that some of them, "beaten by the police in the stomach and on the head", suffered from injuries "could put their lives in danger".

Police said on Sunday that some 70 of their officers were injured on Saturday and that legal proceedings have been launched against around 150 people.



What does the German government say?

By signing a compromise with RWE, the government of Olaf Scholz, which nevertheless includes several environmental ministers, has been accused of treason by the militants.

“[The start of the works] was necessary.

But of course it is a sin vis-à-vis climate policy, and that we should work to ensure that it lasts as little time as possible, ”defended Robert Habeck, Ecologist Minister of the Economy, on Monday. .

According to them, the extension of the mine must secure Germany's energy sovereignty which must compensate for the interruption of Russian gas supplies, a compelling reason disputed by opponents who claim that lignite reserves are sufficient.

On Monday, the last protesting environmental activists were finally dislodged by police, ending years of local mobilization against the controversial project.

Only two activists were still there, having taken refuge for several days in tunnels dug under the village.

From now on, the vast pit where immense excavation machines are activated over several tens of kilometers will be able to engulf Lützerath.

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Germany: Greta Thunberg arrested during a demonstration against a coal mine

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Germany: Several injured after clashes between police and demonstrators at the Lützerath mine

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