Corona: water cannons in action: Berlin’s crown demonstration dissolves

ORAt 12:06 pm, the Berlin police declared that the demonstration had ended prematurely: several thousand people had previously protested in the government district against the new planned amendment to the Infection Protection Act.

Since that morning, the protesters had gathered around the closed Reichstag building and the Republic Square in front of it. The Berlin “Tagesspiegel” reported that there were 5,000 participants during the course of Wednesday morning, and also referred to the police.

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 because, according to their own information, 30 ads 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. Is 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. According to a report by the Reuters news agency, this happened a little later, 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.

Meanwhile, AfD member of the Bundestag Karsten Hilse reported on a dispute that apparently also flared 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 press office did not initially have any information about the incident.

2,000 officers were deployed to Berlin, 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. Several Twitter users posted under the hashtag b1811 about the demonstration, some of them also shared or reported photos of police officers in front of the studios 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”.

FDP chief Lindner turns to Corona’s critics

FDP leader Christian Lindner criticized the planned reform of the Infection Protection Act shortly before its passage.

The bill is “basically a blank check” for the government, as it does not specify “what the government can or can do in a given situation,” Lindner said Wednesday in the ZDF “Morgenmagazin”. Neither “legal clarity” or “state predictability” is created.

Lindner called for clear legal “safety barriers” to government intervention in the event of a pandemic. He referred to difficult discussions between the federal and state governments on Monday, which ended with the postponement of concrete decisions on new corona measures. Such “somewhat chaotic discussions” could be avoided by clear legal requirements.

The FDP also wants to introduce “information obligations” for the government to the Bundestag, Lindner added. The government must periodically explain its crisis strategy.

The head of the FDP rejected allegations that criticism of the Infection Protection Act reform was a grain of sand for crown deniers. “You have to draw clear lines.”

On the one hand there are criticisms related to the content, on the other hand there are statements by Corona deniers, right-wing extremists and Reich citizens. Addressing all critics of Corona’s measures, Lindner said: “Pay attention to the society you are in.” He outlined legal reform compared to the Nazi Enabling Act, as it draws the Alternative for Germany (AfD), for example. absolutely excessive and absurd ”.

However, Gregor Gysi of the Die Linke party was also critical. The wrote on Twitter: “Today I am voting against the Federal Government’s Infection Protection Law. The Bundestag cannot transfer the reins of the action to the Federal Government ”.

However, the Greens passed the new version of the Infection Protection Act. “Now it is really a real legal basis for the measures,” said parliamentary group leader Katrin Göring-Eckardt of the RTL / ntv program “Frühstart”. The Greens could have envisioned further “concretization”, but now they have a “clear time limit” for the measures.

Spahn defended the draft of the Infection Protection Act

The Bundestag should vote on the reform at noon. In the afternoon, the Federal Council will also discuss the bill in a special session. 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.

Federal Minister of Health Jens Spahn (CDU) defended the draft on Bavarian radio. “We are moving from the general clause to a descriptive list, to classification, proportionality issues,” he said. “And that is exactly what critics have understandably demanded in recent weeks, that after so many months of the pandemic, the legal basis must also be differentiated.”