Two Protestors Jailed for CitationJet Attack in Germany

Two environmental protestors who spraypainted a Cessna Citation CJ1+ parked at Sylt Airport in northern Germany have been jailed by a district court judge. According to a December 8 report in Die Welt newspaper, an unnamed 24-year-old woman was sentenced to seven months in prison for joint damage and trespassing, along with a 22-year-old woman, who received a six-month sentence.

Fines of €2,100 ($2,218) and €1,600, respectively, were imposed on another pair of protestors from the Letzte Generation (Last Generation) group. These unnamed defendants were aged 62 and 44, and all four sentences were in line with those sought by the public prosecutor.

Niebüll district court judge Larissa Herzog acquitted a 29-year-old defendant on the grounds that he was at the protest as a photojournalist. Another 28-year-old was acquitted too after her lawyers established that she was not involved in the crime.

According to the public prosecutor’s office, the protestors caused at least €1 million in damage to the private jet and a further €3,700 damage when they cut the airport security fence. Eight days later, the same defendants were alleged to have dug holes in a nearby golf course in Sylt/Hörnum and planted a tree and flowers there. This case was not concluded; prosecutors determined that higher sentences would result from the airport case.

Photos showing the Citation after it was sprayed showed paint covering most of the wings and fuselage, and paint also got into the jet’s turbofan engines. Police did not confirm who owned the aircraft.

The airport is on the North Sea island of Westerland, which is a popular summer-season resort.