Overview
- The Oberverwaltungsgericht Berlin-Brandenburg denied the police request to appeal a Verwaltungsgericht ruling on the April 2023 removal of a climate protester.
- The lower court had found that using a nerve-pressure pain grip on activist Lars Ritter during the sit-in was unnecessary in that situation and therefore unlawful.
- Judges said police failed to show factual errors or arbitrariness in the lower court’s assessment, which is required to grant leave to appeal.
- The decision is final and leaves the Berlin police with no further legal remedies in this case.
- The courts stressed this is not a blanket ban on pain grips, which can be lawful depending on the concrete circumstances.