Corona: 100 arrests – Berlin demonstration against infection protection law is dissolved

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

Police faced considerable resistance from protesters throughout the day. A total of more than 100 people have already been arrested, including cases of shorter liberty restrictions, according to an afternoon spokeswoman. The AFP agency even wrote about 190 arrests. Nine policemen were injured in action.

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, this was confirmed by the Bundestag and the Bundesrat on Wednesday afternoon.

The protesters gathered around the closed 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.

However, it quickly became clear that many of the participants did not comply 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 So did the operations management team., that in case of repeated violations, the event could also be dissolved.

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.

AfD President 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 showdown.” 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.” Geisel said. There was no strong jet of water, but “a spray that made it uncomfortable.”

As the dpa news agency reports, people were still at the scene in the early afternoon (Brandenburg Gate and Reichstag building) and resisting the police. Officials relentlessly tried to drive the protesters away, and the water cannons were still in use, without much success.

At around 3:30 pm, according to a dpa reporter, the protest began to slowly dissolve. According to him, people gradually left the meeting in the direction of Potsdamer Platz. Some of them were wet from the spray from the water cannons. Some had red and watery eyes from the pepper spray.

The police union asks for patience

Meanwhile, the Berlin Police Union (GdP) expressed its understanding for the tactics of the Berlin colleagues. You can see that people are still resisting and not following police measures, said spokesman Benjamin Jendro of the n-tv broadcaster. You can’t beat people savagely now.

With the spraying of the water cannons, the emergency services tried gently at first, Jendro said. But at some point this will probably increase. For emergency services, it’s also about getting spokespeople out of the crowd. “But the Berlin police don’t have many other options.”

According to the police, numerous protesters had also gathered at noon on March 18. The use of “spray mist by our water cannons” had been threatened, without any reaction, it was said. The water cannons were used again.

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 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 with him 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 it seemed “absurd” for someone to react in this way for an administrative violation.

The Berlin police themselves reported the incident. on his twitter channel further on as follows: “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, d. 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 capital studies of ZDF and ARD. Twitter users posted about the demonstration, some of them also shared photos of police officers in front of the studio 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”.

The Bundestag voted on the reform on Wednesday afternoon, it was adopted with 415 votes in favor. 236 MPs voted against and 8 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 have a more secure legal basis. The text of the law contains a catalog of possible protection measures against infection, including contact restrictions, business closures, and the obligation to use oral and nasal protection.

Hubertus Heil thanked the police

The federal Minister of Labor, Hubertus Heil, also used the debate to address the demonstrations around the Reichstag. “I would like to particularly thank the police forces that protect our democracy in this situation,” says the SPD politician.

Meanwhile, the federal government has asked protesters against crown policy to comply with hygiene regulations. The decisions of the assembly authorities should be followed, as well as hygiene rules such as wearing a mask or keeping your distance, Deputy Government Spokesperson Ulrike Demmer said Wednesday.

This also happened “with a large number of participants” in previous events.

However, Demmer expressly did not want to comment on protests by several thousand people against the government’s crown policy that were taking place in Berlin at noon.