Sabotage at transformer stations: 48-year-old from Gevelsberg identified as suspect
Police stormed the vehicle of a 48-year-old man from Gevelsberg in a wooded area near Niederzier. Two letters claiming responsibility, also received by the F.A.Z., point to climate motives.
Suspect at large after arrest in Niederzier – letters claiming responsibility name fossil fuels as target
Police stormed the vehicle of a 48-year-old man from Gevelsberg in the Ennepe-Ruhr district, who is suspected of carrying out several acts of sabotage against Germany's electricity supply. The operation took place in a wooded area in Niederzier in Düren district, as North Rhine-Westphalia's interior minister Herbert Reul (CDU) announced at a press conference in Düsseldorf late Friday afternoon. Niederzier lies at the edge of the Hambach lignite open-pit mine, in whose forest climate activists occasionally stay.
Reul spoke together with federal interior minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU), who added: "According to current information, one must assume climate terrorism here." The suspect was reportedly on foot after the operation and would not get far, according to Reul.
Search of flat yields suspicious substances
The suspect's flat in Gevelsberg was searched that morning. During the search, police found suspicious substances as well as objects suspected of containing explosives. "We cannot say anything about the quantity at the moment. All these findings are being examined by specialists," said Reul.
Whether the man is actually the perpetrator and whether other persons were involved is still being investigated. In addition to a possible left-extremist background, the authorities do not rule out "state-controlled sabotage" either.
Two handwritten letters claiming responsibility
According to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, the newspaper received two handwritten letters in which the author admits to the attacks. The first letter refers to the attack on the transformer station in Jänschwalde, Brandenburg on Tuesday. The author justifies his alleged actions by stating that electricity generation from fossil fuels is "a crime" that "causes unbearable suffering". He further writes that the media do "fuck all" to convey the urgency of the situation, which is why he must act himself.
The letter also contains technically detailed information about how the act was carried out: the author mentions electric detonators, timers, pipes and a wire. According to the F.A.Z., these details match media reports about the sabotage act in Jänschwalde – however, those reports only appeared late on Tuesday, at a time when the letter would already have been in the post. Dobrindt therefore spoke of "clear knowledge of the perpetrator".
Reul described it as "very unusual, relatively rare" that the author had provided his full name and address on the letter. According to current investigative findings, police regard the letters as authentic.
Threat of further attacks and political statements
In the first letter, the author also states that he is not sad "if the German arms industry is harmed by power cuts, especially as long as Germany supports the genocide in Palestine". He emphasises that he planned and carried out the act entirely alone – "without outside help and without ever telling anyone about it". He justifies pointing to the solo act by saying he fears the act would otherwise be attributed to the "left-wing scene": "They have nothing to do with it."
At the same time, he announces further attacks on the electricity supply: "If law and order prevailed here, I would not have to break the law."
A second letter, which the F.A.Z. received on Thursday, reports on further short circuits that the author claims to have caused – amongst other places in Dormagen in North Rhine-Westphalia. An act of sabotage at a transformer station was indeed reported there in the night of Thursday to Friday. "I am not attacking the country, but the fossil fuel industry, even if for some politicians that is the same thing," the letter states.
Traces also in Weisweiler and Jänschwalde
The author also mentions an alleged attack in Weisweiler near Aachen. Police subsequently searched the area around the lignite power station there on Friday morning and, according to information from the F.A.Z., found two launching devices.
Early on Tuesday morning, there had been an attempted act of sabotage near the Jänschwalde lignite power station in Brandenburg. This involved using homemade projectiles resembling fireworks to direct conductive material towards the high-voltage power lines. Police found more than a dozen apparently intended launching devices.
Taz: Family member recognised handwriting
The newspaper "taz" had also received the letter claiming responsibility and reported on it. At the address given on the letter, the "taz" met a family member of the man who recognised his handwriting but said they knew nothing of the act or the man's current whereabouts. Another family member declined to comment. The "taz" stated that it had explicitly pointed out that it could not be conclusively established whether the author of the letter was also the perpetrator. Investigations are ongoing.
Source: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung