Court rules G7 protesters must keep 500 metres from summit site

Protesters were doing everything they could to draw attention to themselves at the G7 summit in the Bavarian Alps on Monday, but a bid to move a small demonstration closer to the venue where the high-profile leaders are gathering was rejected.

Some 50 protesters registered with the police to protest in the vicinity of the summit had requested to move their demonstration some 200 metres closer to Schloss Elmau resort.

However, a regional court in Munich on Monday rejected the bid on security grounds, meaning the protest has to take place 500 metres away from the summit venue.

The G7 meeting is taking place under tight security measures, and it was only following drawn-out negotiations with the authorities protecting the summit that a group of at most 50 demonstrators registered by name with the police have been allowed to enter the security zone around Schloss Elmau in police vehicles to hold a rally there.

At a 2015 G7 summit in the same location, a group of 50 people had also been granted permission to stage a protest near the venue; however, the demonstration did not materialize as the protesters' demand to be allowed to walk to the site was rejected by the courts.

Meanwhile, other groups of protesters set off on bike tours and marches, with some 100 activists due to march for several hours departing from the nearby town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, according to dpa estimates.

The march will be accompanied by dozens of police officers and a number of police vehicles, and participants have to abide by strict rules, including no leaving the road, keeping dogs on a leash, and no flares.

Other marches are also due to take place in the area despite hot weather conditions.

A protest of a different kind was staged by environmental organization Greenpeace on Monday morning.

Activists projected a message onto one of the mountains on the fringes of the G7 summit in Bavaria.

The words "G7: End Fossil Fuels now! Greenpeace" were only just visible to the naked eye early on Monday.

The activists had shone the lettering onto the mountains with a large projector from a mobile home in Grainau near Garmisch-Partenkirchen.

Greenpeace activists had previously placed a 60-metre peace sign made of burning candles on a rock face near Garmisch-Partenkirchen on Saturday, shortly before the start of the summit.