Corona: 365 arrests – Berlin demonstration against infection protection law dissolved

ORAt 12:06 pm, the Berlin police declared that the demonstration had ended prematurely, but not all participants complied with this requirement. The protesters were “absolutely persistent,” a police spokeswoman said Wednesday afternoon. It wasn’t until about seven hours after the start of the demo that the meeting began to slowly dissolve. It is now officially over. However, many of the participants are still in small and medium groups in the city center, tweeted the Berlin authority early Wednesday night. We accompany them and take care that nobody does mischief ”.

The police had temporarily detained 365 people overnight. Restrictions on freedom and deprivation of liberty often occurred due to violations of the Infection Protection Act, the police tweeted In the afternoon. But there was also the suspicion of a breach of public order. In the case of two suspects, a judge will verify if they are in custody.

So far, the police have knowledge of ten injured officers. Among them was a female police officer who was kicked in the head when she removed her helmet, a spokesperson said. She had come to a hospital. Another colleague’s shoulder had been dislocated.

Müller: “I am no longer willing to accept something like this in Berlin”

“I want to say clearly that I am no longer willing to accept something like this in Berlin, what we see here,” said Berlin Mayor Michael Müller (SPD) on the rbb “Abendschau”. On the one hand, thousands would demonstrate without taking any protection into account, on the other hand, the pandemic is about keeping schools open and the existence of many entrepreneurs.

Several thousand critics of Corona’s measures had protested against the planned additional changes to the Infection Protection Act in the government district since early this morning. As expected, these were confirmed by the Bundestag and the Bundesrat on Wednesday afternoon.

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The protesters gathered around the cordoned off Reichstag building and the Republic Square. The Berlin “Tagesspiegel” reported a number of 5,000 participants on Wednesday morning. During the day this number increased significantly again, at times there were 14,000 people. Police spokeswoman Anja Dierschke said that, according to an initial cautious estimate, about 7,000 people had gathered at the Brandenburg Gate.

It quickly became apparent that some of the participants were not complying with the distance rules and regulations for the use of mouth and nose protection. The police issued According to his own information, around 30 complaints for lack of masks. Shortly after 11 am It was also said by the operations management, that in case of repeated violations, the event could also be dissolved.

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go dead it happened then just under an hour later. Participants now have a duty to leave, he said.

Police had previously indicated that they wanted to use water cannons against protesters if necessary. This happened not far from the Brandenburg Gate and according to the police also at the height of the Plaza del 18 de Marzo.

In numerous Online Videos From the display it can be seen that the protesters were “showered” relatively gently, this was done because there were children in the crowd, police said.

“Extremely aggressive mood” according to observers

On-site observers spoke of an “extremely aggressive mood” among the protesters. Tear gas also appeared to be used. The police itself talked about Having used pepper spray after bottles, rocks and firecrackers were thrown at him.

This was followed by several fights and provisional arrests, especially during the attempted dissolution of the event.

The president of the AfD, Tino Chrupalla, accused the police of trying to confront the protesters. “I have not seen such an aggressive attitude in the police for a long time,” he said on the sidelines of the Bundestag debate on the Infection Protection Act. Peaceful protesters would be shot with water cannons. “I saw a cop here today who probably wanted the confrontation.” He did not want to judge the extent to which they had been asked to do so.

Berlin Interior Senator Andreas Geisel (SPD) later defended the use of water cannons: “Today … we had no choice but to clear the area in front of the Brandenburg Gate with these technical means.” Police also used the water cannons with a sense of proportion, Geisel said. Follow. There was no hard water jet, but “a spray that made it uncomfortable.”

According to the police, there were also attacks on the emergency services. “They threw bottles, stones and firecrackers at our colleagues and attacked them with pepper spray”, tweeted The authority. The officers used physical force and pepper spray and arrested some of the attackers.

Hours earlier, the AfD member of the Bundestag Karsten Hilse reported a dispute, which apparently also started due to the lack of a mask.

AfD MP in conflict with police

Greetings gently in a videothat he was approached by the police because he was walking without a mask. He carried a medical certificate that released him from the mask requirement. However, the police complained that no specific illness was listed. When he wanted to make a video, there was a physical discussion.

Later, the videos of it circulated on the Twitter online service. The 55-year-old said he found it “absurd” for someone to react in this way for an administrative violation.

The Berlin police themselves reported the incident. on his twitter channel later: “This morning our colleagues approached a gentleman who violated the mask requirement at Unter den Linden. He was reluctant to cooperate, it turned out to be MdB (Member of the Bundestag; re. Red.), it is said that he asked his partner to film and then resisted. “

A total of 2,200 officers were on duty in Berlin on Wednesday, including support from nine other federal states and the federal police.

The Federal Ministry of the Interior had previously banned several demonstrations recorded directly in front of the Reichstag building in the so-called pacified district.

Therefore, the police extensively cordoned off the area. Apparently, there was police protection for the ZDF and ARD capital studies. Twitter users posted about the demonstration, some of them also shared photos of police officers in front of the studios or reported of special admission controls.

There were also numerous calls on the Internet not to register the demonstrations in advance, but to spontaneously drive to Berlin and protest in the Bundestag. The police spoke of a “high mobilization”.

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The Bundestag voted on the reform on Wednesday afternoon, it was adopted with 415 votes in favor. 236 MPs voted against, eight abstained, as announced by the President of the Bundestag, Wolfgang Schäuble (CDU). A little later, the Federal Council also approved the bill at a special meeting.

Protective measures against the corona pandemic are expected to be based on a more secure legal basis. The text of the law contains a catalog of possible measures to protect against infections, including contact restrictions, business closures and the obligation to use oral and nasal protection.