The Senate and the Green parliamentary group want to present how the power grid can be better protected. There is a 1 million reward for identifying the perpetrators.
The black-red state government wants consequences from this as soon as possible Power outage in southwest Berlin at the beginning of January pull. Governing Mayor Kai Wegner (CDU) and Interior Senator Iris Spranger (SPD) apparently want to present a package of measures to secure the critical infrastructure in Berlin on Tuesday afternoon after the Senate meeting. The Green parliamentary group wants to present its ideas in the House of Representatives beforehand.
On January 3rd, after an arson attack on a cable bridge on the Teltow Canal in Lichterfelde, around 45,000 households in Zehlendorf, Wannsee, Nikolassee and Lichterfelde suddenly had no electricity and soon no functioning heating. For about 25,000 of them, this situation continued until power was restored four days later on January 7th following an earlier-than-expected emergency repair.
The Federal Prosecutor’s Office, which is now entrusted with the investigation, assumes a left-wing terrorist background. This is suggested by several letters of confession from a so-called Group of volcanoes or more groups with this name. The results of the investigation are not yet known. One reaction to this was to offer an amount of one million euros as a reward for information that leads to the identification of the perpetrators. Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) confirmed this to journalists on Tuesday morning. The money comes from federal funds.
Greens present position paper
The Senate announced shortly after the attack that to better protect sensitive points of the power supply in the futureto also rely on video surveillance in public spaces and to put data protection second. The same should apply to the issue of transparency: data on these locations should be less accessible in the future.
The Green group is also pushing for consequences. The arson attack on the power supply “has repeatedly shown how vulnerable Berlin is and how serious the direct consequences are for the people in our city,” she says. The group reminds us that: Already in September there was an attack on the power grid in the Köpenick district gave. According to its own statements, it has drawn up a position paper for a crisis-proof capital in the past few months.
Together for a free press
As a cooperative, we belong to our readers. And our journalism is not only 100% non-corporate, but also accessible free of charge. We make all articles freely available, without a paywall. Especially in these times, classifications and information must be accessible to everyone. Our readers don’t have to pay anything, but they know that critical, independent journalism doesn’t emerge from nothing. We are very grateful for that. So that we can continue to do our journalism tomorrow, we need more support. Our next goal: 50,000 – and with your participation we can do it. Set an example for the taz and for the future of our journalism. With just 5 euros you are there!
Support now