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German police move to clear Tesla factory protest camp

AFP
AFP - news@thelocal.de
German police move to clear Tesla factory protest camp
Police clear the Tesla camp site on November 19th. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Sebastian Gollnow

German police have begun clearing a protest camp near Tesla's German factory near Berlin, where activists hoped to stop the expansion of the US carmaker's only European site.

The campaigners, who argue that Tesla's plans to grow the factory would threaten local supplies of groundwater, had built treehouses in an area of woodland next to the plant.

Some of the environmental activists left voluntarily on Tuesday, while others had to be removed by force, a police spokeswoman said.

Protestors who remained in the trees were "accompanied" down by high-altitude rescuers, the spokeswoman said. Four people were temporarily arrested during the operation.

Police said they were called to temporarily clear the camp at the request of the local municipality, in order to search for unexploded Second World War munitions.

After the refusal of some protestors to leave, the decision was made to permanently dissolve the encampment, the spokeswoman said.

"Stop Tesla" campaign organisers on Monday said the order to search for munitions was a ruse to get them to leave, and "dishonest".

The protest camp close to Tesla's factory in Grünheide on the outskirts of Berlin has been in place since February this year.

READ ALSO: Why is Tesla's expansion near Berlin so controversial?

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Tesla opened the plant, which employs some 12,000 people, in 2022 at the end of a tumultuous two-year approval and construction process.

The carmaker had to clear a series of administrative and legal hurdles before production could begin at the site, including complaints from locals about the site's environmental impact.

Plans to double capacity to make a million cars a year at the site and expand battery production were announced in 2023.

The expansion plans have drawn renewed protest from local residents, as well as the forest camp.

In March the plant was forced to halt production following a suspected arson attack on nearby power lines claimed by a far-left group.

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