"Quite simple"

Why climate campaigners in Germany go to prison

In Austria, climate offenders get away with administrative penalties.

(Bild: Letzte Generation AT)

How can it be that climate activist Martha Krumpeck was sentenced to prison in Germany, while in Austria she is not even threatened with prosecution for climate blockades? The "Krone" asked lawyer Sascha Flatz and criminal law expert Alois Birklbauer.

Unlike in Austria, blocking traffic with a climate blockade brings activists in Germany before the criminal courts: in the event of a conviction, activists even face imprisonment. This is what happened in the case of Martha Krumpeck, the well-known co-founder of the Last Generation in Austria. She was sentenced to one month in Frankfurt on Monday. And stuck herself in the courtroom in protest.

Passive concept of violence in Germany
But why are traffic blockades that cause chaos a criminal offense in Germany and not here? Passive violence versus physical violence. "Both countries have an almost identical paragraph on coercion," explains the respected criminal law expert Alois Birklbauer, "but unlike in Germany, there is a passive concept of violence, which means that even a peaceful blockade can be interpreted as violence.

Lawyer Flatz in favor of changing the law
The "Krone" also asked lawyer Sascha Flatz about "Recht einfach": "In Austria, there is basically freedom of assembly. This means that if people sit down somewhere, they are generally allowed to stay there. The police then arrive on the street and break up the assembly. The climate campaigners then have to leave the assembly. If they fail to do so, they are liable to prosecution under administrative criminal law, but not under criminal law," he explains, "but in Germany the offense of coercion is fulfilled." In Austria, however, it is necessary to use or threaten to use physical force.

Flatz is in favor of a change in the law: "Sticking yourself on the road to stop traffic should also be considered an act of coercion in Austria. So that appropriate action can be taken against these people," he believes. 

Ministry of Justice sees administrative penalties as sensible

The Ministry of Justice states that administrative criminal law "usually offers more targeted and quicker sanction options".