20260828 Polizei blind bei Verhältnismäßigkeit?

House Search Instead of a Subpoena

Now that’s service! Instead of summoning the busy mother in Oldenburg — who has young children — to the police station for questioning, nine police officers came to her home early in the morning. To avoid causing a commotion, they entered through the back door — to conduct a search of the premises! Nine officers combed through the climate activist’s apartment because she is alleged to have hung up counterfeit Deutsche Bahn posters at Oldenburg’s main train station, according to the taz’s report on the incident.

The outrageous poster, designed in the style of Deutsche Bahn, announced that train travel would be free in the future and is said to be part of a nationwide campaign by a resistance collective — a successor organization to the ”Klimakleber" group Letzte Generation in May. Since the posters were merely stuck over the real ones with Scotch tape, there wasn’t even any talk of property damage. It was merely a matter of a copyright infringement involving Deutsche Bahn.

The responsible public prosecutor’s office should explain why a home search — including the children’s room — and the costly deployment of nine officers were necessary for such an investigation. “Especially on the left and among climate activists, this tactic is often used for trivial reasons and serves merely to intimidate,” states a press release from the Resistance Collective. Britta Rabe of the Fundamental Rights Committee also notes that criminal prosecution and the gathering of evidence would have been possible even with a less severe measure. After all, nothing was found during the raid...

In a similar adbusting case — in which the message on Bundeswehr posters in Berlin was altered — the Federal Constitutional Court issued a ruling in December 2023. The highest court had ruled: “A reference to the range of possible penalties is not sufficient to justify the severity of the offenses being prosecuted. In the context of proportionality, only the penalty that can be expected for the specific offense may be taken into account.” Even if the posters in question had been found in the apartment, they would not have proven the alleged offense.

To conclude this absurd episode, let’s quote the suspect: “How can it be that we take it for granted that we use highways for free, but that’s supposedly impossible for buses and trains?” Even if everyone rode without a ticket, that wouldn’t prevent a train from continuing its journey. Free public transportation “would be good for the climate and socially just.”

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)