May 1 in Zurich: leftists criticize police

The Zurich city police cracked down on May 1, my left-wing politician.

Alexandra Wey / Keystone

Luca Maggi, vice-president of the Greens in the city of Zurich and spokesman for the May 1 Committee, condemned the deployment of the Zurich city police on Labor Day as “witness to poverty”. Freedom of expression has been abolished, it said in a committee statement. What had happened The Zurich city police decided to dissolve even small groups and not allow any gathering of people. Banners were removed, activists were activated or briefly arrested.

The organizers believe that the city and the canton have not assumed their responsibility and have not protected people who would have liked to exercise their democratic rights. Rather, they had “lost all sight.” Consequently, one is disappointed with the procedure.

Criticism of the police operation also comes from Andreas Kirstein, councilman and chairman of the Alternative List (AL) group. Upon request, Kirstein said he had decided to spend the day digitally alone. It would be completely wrong for large numbers of people to gather on this day to demonstrate, as in Basel. “I never would have run.”

The police operation in Zurich was even more disproportionate. It is unacceptable that the police have not tolerated even small forms of protest that have been shown to meet the requirements of the Federal Office of Public Health (BAG). “The virus took the most important day of the festival. To do this, people got along very well with the situation, “says Kirstein. The police operation will have political repercussions to the extent that AL will issue a faction statement to the municipal council. Furthermore, they wish to submit a written request on the subject of “fundamental rights in crown times”.

Political reevaluation must go on

The use of city police was correct and proportionate, city police spokesman Marco Cortesi said. A maneuver review would also be conducted based on video analysis and it would be checked if the allegations in the room were true and what lessons could be learned from them. Already on Friday night and Friday there were arson attacks and paint attacks and meetings were called online. The police had a clear mandate to prevent this and implement the Covid 19 requirements.

Cortesi clearly rejects the accusation that the police acted to drive groups together and not follow distance rules. In Bellevue, a chain of people should have been broken, meeting participants had been given the opportunity to voluntarily vacate the space. We cannot be blamed. We were very polite with people.

Police recorded a total of three color changes. She arrested 24 people and 21 have already been released. Two men allegedly committed one of the color changes, a woman is believed to be the leader of the demonstration in Bellevue, in which, in the meantime, 100 participants gathered. In addition, 40 violations of the Covid regulation were recorded, 10 people were reported and 113 instructions were given.

On May 1, a resident of Zurich District 4 participates in a “noise demonstration” from his home.

Simon Tanner / NZZ

The large police presence also surprised him, said Marco Denoth, president of the city of Zurich SP. But it is difficult to balance the right to freedom of expression with the crown’s code of conduct. “It is a very fine line to find a midpoint, it is not easy.” The May 1 operation certainly serves as an example to assess how the police generally handle large protests in times of crisis. “Maybe we can learn something for the future.”

Understanding civic expression

On the other hand, it sounds different from commoners. The organizing committee of May 1 must be credited with the fact that there were no major celebrations. But he was glad he had intervened with the police so quickly and was therefore not interested in seeing larger demonstrations, said FDP President Severin Pflüger of Zurich. It was easier to divide a group of five people at the same time than to disperse ten groups of five people each. “The police handled this relatively well,” says Pflüger. May 1 was always an opportunity for the left to criticize the work of the police, added the liberal.

SVP President Mauro Tuena of Zurich is of the same opinion. “The police did the right thing with their reaction,” he said. If he hadn’t intervened from the start, there could have been riots or riots. At the women’s demonstration on March 8, 2020, they saw what would happen if the police held protests. Whether you find the BAG guidelines good or bad, they apply to everyone. Cities are obligated to implement this. “It would be totally irresponsible not to comply.”