Activists protesting expansion plans for US electric carmaker Tesla's factory near Berlin do not need to leave their camp in the forest, a German court ruled on Tuesday.
The administrative court in Potsdam thus rejected a police order that called on activists of the "Stop Tesla" initiative to dismantle their treehouses due to safety concerns. The group had filed an urgent appeal against the order with the court.
According to the court, the "general considerations regarding the incompatibility of the protest camp, including the tree houses, with nature conservation and building regulations were not sufficient for the risk prognosis required under assembly law."
The authorities had also not "adequately" considered the fact that freedom of assembly is protected by fundamental rights, the court said.
An appeal against the decision is still possible to the Berlin-Brandenburg Higher Administrative Court.
Tesla's chief executive is tech billionaire Elon Musk.
Around 80 activists are currently occupying part of the forest near the factory site in a camp set up at the end of February. They want to prevent the forest from being cleared as part of the planned expansion of Tesla's only European plant.
In a non-binding resolution, a majority of residents in Grünheide, the Berlin suburb where the plant is located, voted against its expansion.
The municipality of Grünheide has now suggested that only around half of the initially earmarked forest area be cleared for the expansion.
