EcoterrorismEcoterrorists suspected in acid attack on German energy executive

German ecoterrorists are the main suspects in an acid attack on a German energy executive, which has left him badly injured.

Bernhard Günther, the CFO of energy giant RWE’s green subsidiary, Innogy, was struck as he crossed a park in Haan, a well-to-do suburb of Düsseldorf, on Sunday. 

“We are deeply shocked,” said Innogy chairman Uwe Tiggs. “Our thoughts are with Bernhard and his family and we wish him a speedy recovery.”

Der Spiegel reports that two unknown perpetrators were seen pouring acid over the 51-year-old’s face before fleeing the scene on foot, witnesses said. A statement Günther made to police confirmed the witnesses’ account.

Günther managed to make it to his nearby apartment, and called for help. He was rushed to hospital with life-threatening injuries. His doctors say his condition is now stable. 

Düsseldorf police said they were investigating “in every direction.”

The mass-circulation newspaper Bild reported that investigators were looking to see whether the attack was part of the ongoing fight between environmentalists and RWE over a stretch of old forest between the western German cities of Cologne and Aachen.

Spiegel notes that the Hambach Forest, which is over 12,000 years old, is rich in biodiversity relative to other forests in Germany. More than 90 percent of the forest has already been cut to make room for development. Since 2012, environmentalist groups and RWE have been in conflict over the company’s open-pit lignite mine on the site, which is the largest in Europe.

Over the last decade, the fight to save the forest has galvanized German environmentalists, who have staged demonstrations, human chains, and a series of occupations in the forest in efforts to stop mining company vehicles from entering the woods on their way to the lignite mine.

This was not the first attack on Günther, according to the authorities. The 51-year-old was also assaulted and beaten up several years ago.

Innogy, of which the acid attack victim is the CFO, is not involved in mining in that forest. In 2016, the company was created as a separate entity for RWE’s renewable energy generation, network and retail business, while fossil fuel plants and mining remained with RWE.

Left-wing groups – the most famous one the Rote Armee Fraktion (aka Baader-Meinhof group), which was active in West Germany from the early-1970s to the mid-1980s – have attacked and killed a score of German business people in the last four decades.