We demanded a world worth living in - and instead were fined €750. During the #blockIAA trial on May 21 against Cosimo, the court reduced the penalty from originally € 2,400 and recognized the climate emergency situation. Nontheless it continues to try and suppress our legitimate protest. They want to keep the IAA free of criticism. Not on our watch! We stand together as a movement. We cover the costs in solidarity. No one is left behind!
That's why we started a crowdfunding campaign: Our goal: to raise €750 for Cosimo! Anything more than that will be used to support other activists faced with repression costs in connection to the #blockIAA protests.
Are you able to donate some money and support the resistance for a socio-ecological mobility transition? Then make a contribution now. Even if you only want to give a few euros, we appreciate your solidarity. You can support our protest here:
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Do you know people who might be interested in this court case? This is your chance to share our appeal!
Thank you for your support!!
The Backstory
Around 40 supporters followed Cosimo's trial on May 21. During the various #blockIAA protests last summer, Cosimo drew attention to the criticism of car capitalism at the exhibition space in Munich's city center: he climbed onto the roof of the VW stand, positioned himself on top of a car and was highly visible with his banner “ÖPNV statt Autoschau” (Public transport instead of car show).
In our opinion Cosimo should have received a prize for dancing past the 4500 police officers who were supposed to be policing the IAA advertising show and making it onto the stand. However, VW and the court had different ideas. A few months later, Cosimo received a letter accusing him of causing dents in the car roof.
I can only understand the aim of the criminal proceedings today as an attempt to achieve a deterrent effect so that we can once again make the expression of legitimate criticism so convenient that it can easily be ignored.
Despite the short duration of the action, it was uncomfortable and unignorable. Even today, almost a year after the campaign, it is still attracting attention. The automotive industry is also aware of this fact. The fact that the indictment came about at all can be seen as a desperate attempt to break our solidarity and silence the protest. Because as far as arguments and facts are concerned, VW & Co. don't stand a chance.
The banner action is part of a range of disobedient actions by which we allow a spark of utopia to shine through, far beyond neo-colonial exploitation and environmental devastation.
Climate Emergency Acknowledged by Court
In court, Cosimo justified his action in terms of the climate emergency. The climate crisis is destroying the livelihoods of people around the world NOW. Floods, droughts and extreme weather events are costing lives. And the automotive industry is a major contributor to this. It alone is responsible for as many greenhouse gas emissions as all of Europe!
It is obvious that the car advertising show IAA is trying to prevent the necessary transformation to a well-developed public transportation system and socially just mobility. Even the court had to acknowledge this, and recognized the argumentation.
Disagreement only arose over the choice of means. Like the police before it, the court allowed itself to be instrumentalized by the automotive industry: allegedly, the mildest means had not been chosen.
As the area was effectively occupied by Volkswagen. 4,500 police officers violently suppressed any dissenting opinion. I saw no other way of drawing attention to myself but to climb onto the car on the stand where I could hardly be overlooked.
It is also difficult to overlook the fact that the court and VW would have preferred the protest to be invisible and easy to ignore, or ideally not to take place at all. And this intimidation is precisely the aim of the court proceedings and the demand for punishment. However, these attempts are ineffective: if we spread the costs across many people, they vanish. The punishment will disappear and our criticism can remain loud!
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Penalty Greater than Requested
It was ridiculous that VW demanded €4,000 for a few alleged dents in the car roof. Not only in contrast to the millions of euros that VW spent on the stand at the IAA, but also in relation to the actual repair costs, which are only a fraction of that amount. Even during the trial, the public prosecutor's office reduced the claim to a tenth of the original amount: €400. By this point at the latest, it is clear that VW was never concerned with the costs of the car, but with leaving the costs of its production methods to people and nature uncommented.
The court did not have to play along with this game. It could have recognized the state of emergency in combination with the means to release Cosimo. It could have handed down a mild sentence. Or it could have simply followed the prosecution's demand.
Well no. With the 50 daily rates of €15 each, the court even exceeded the prosecution's demand. Supposedly, this was necessary because Cosimo did not express any remorse for his protest, but rather objected to the penalty order. Yet, why should a person feel remorse for pointing out the neo-colonial continuities of the automotive industry? Or criticizing the fact that “infinite” growth in the automotive industry only leads to more and more cars, but not to a ecologically and socially just mobility? The crises we are facing are very real, and we must respond to them with alternative solutions. Instead of the pressure to make profits, we need self-managed and restructured car factories whose products are climate-friendly, durable and resource-efficient. Public transport must be free and widely accessible. This is the only way to lay the foundation of a world that is no longer based on exploitation and destruction.
Cosimo has remained strong throughout the trial, and we stand with him. We are standing up against a system with no future, and together we are fighting for a world worth living in. We will carry the fire of resistance until the capitalist system goes up in flames. And of course we cover the costs of repression together.