Power grid sabotage in North Rhine-Westphalia: Police search substation near Aachen
Following acts of sabotage at several substations in North Rhine-Westphalia and Brandenburg, police are examining further locations. Interior Minister Dobrindt speaks of climate extremism.
Police search substation in Weisweiler following series of sabotage acts
As Google News CH — Crime (de) reports, police searched a substation in the North Rhine-Westphalian town of Weisweiler near Aachen on Friday morning — a further step following a series of alleged acts of sabotage against critical energy infrastructure in Germany.
The starting point of the investigation is an attack on Tuesday evening in North Rhine-Westphalia, in which unknown perpetrators attacked a substation. Several blocks of the RWE coal-fired power plants in Niederaussem and Neurath subsequently had to be temporarily disconnected from the grid. The Cologne public prosecutor's office is investigating on suspicion of sabotage against the constitutional order. North Rhine-Westphalian Interior Minister Herbert Reul stated: "This was deliberate, this was a criminal offence. Whoever targets it attacks our country."
Unknown perpetrators had already attempted on Tuesday morning to trigger a large-scale power outage by attacking a substation near Jänschwalde power station in Brandenburg. On Thursday evening, a further sabotage attempt occurred near Dormagen-Gohr; police found launching devices near power lines there, according to RWE.
Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said: "Based on current information, we must assume climate extremism." Whether this involves a lone perpetrator has not yet been conclusively established. According to Reul, investigators are also examining a possible connection between the incidents in North Rhine-Westphalia and Brandenburg.
The alleged author of the letters claiming responsibility is said to have provided his name and address on the letters. Whether he is actually involved in the acts is still being investigated. Reul described the situation as "very complex" and did not rule out the possibility that the suspect is in Germany.
Source: Google News CH — Crime (de)