SBS On Demand Two men wearing orange and yellow safety vests break into an oil pipeline in the western German state of North Rhine-Westfalia. They turn off the flow by activating the emergency shut-off valve, then chain themselves to it — all in protest against the use of fossil fuels. The men, Christian Bläul and Wolfgang Metzeler-Kick, are members of a climate activist group called Last Generation, which is now at the centre of a political and legal storm in Germany.
"So whenever there's this accusation that you're a criminal group, they can tap your phone, search your location, radio, your home, and so on. So these are all typical measures for mafia, for criminal gangs and everything that happens underground. "If these raids, for example, or wiretapping of phones of activists becomes the norm, then I mean free speech is in danger. And this is the core of democracy, and I'm quite worried about this.