Raids across Germany target climate activists

German police officers and public prosecutor officials searched properties of members of the climate group Last Generation in seven states on Wednesday.
A total of 15 properties were searched in the morning from around 7:00 am (0500 GMT), according to the Munich General Public Prosecutor's Office and the Bavarian State Criminal Police Office.
The raid is related to numerous criminal charges filed against members of the group since the middle of last year, with seven suspects between 22 and 38 years old accused of forming or supporting a criminal organization.
The central accusation in connection with the searches is that the accused organized a fundraising campaign to finance further crimes for Last Generation and thus collected at least €1.4 million ($1.5 million).
Properties in the states of Hesse, Hamburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Saxony, Bavaria, Berlin and Schleswig-Holstein were raided.
In addition, the group's homepage was shut down on the instructions of the public prosecutor's office, according to a police spokesman.
According to the police, about 170 officers were deployed nationwide.
Last Generation in Germany has repeatedly blocked traffic in Berlin and other centres in its campaign to press for stronger action to counter global warming.
Among other things, the Last Generation activists are demanding that the German government come up with a plan to achieve the international goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius compared to pre-industrial times.