The public prosecutor in Vienna has dropped the case against members of the Last Generation after an action in May. The climate group was accused of blocking an ambulance at the time. Despite resuscitation, the patient died at the scene.
The police documentation does not show whether the activists saw the ambulance or not, a spokeswoman for the Vienna public prosecutor’s office said. “Moreover, it turned out that the Lower Austrian vehicle would have been faster anyway.” The ambulance was on its way to Schwechat at the time.
As reported on May 10, around 8 a.m. at the roundabout, the last generation had blocked early traffic. A few minutes later, an ambulance got stuck in Grenzackerstrasse, just 250 meters from the protest area. At the same time, an ambulance from the Lower Austrian Red Cross and a Christophorus 9 emergency medical helicopter were alerted and arrived on the scene shortly after 8:00 am. “We then resuscitated the patient for more than an hour,” said a spokesman for the Lower Austrian Red Cross. Despite all efforts, the man was pronounced dead at 9:14 am.
Activists were not informed
According to the police, the ambulance was only able to continue after their intervention. However, the protesters were not approached, it said. Four of them were nevertheless reported for “endangering physical safety”. It has since been announced that the investigation has been discontinued. “Various media have blamed us for the death of a man. Politicians took the opportunity to discredit us and called us terrorists,” Marina Canaval of the last generation said Friday.
allegations rejected
The group denied the allegation in May, but admitted a “mistake happened”. The rescue service was not aware of the protest location, as is customary. The Viennese professional rescue service pointed out on Friday that communication had always been neutral and without recrimination. The headquarters of the Vienna State Police defended that it had not spread false information. It is always up to the public prosecutor to assess the situation legally.
The climate protection group came under massive public criticism after the incident. There have been repeated calls for tougher penalties for blockades or a tougher law on the assembly.
Source: Krone
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