125 criminal charges after riots
Police draw summary of violence after Eritrea Festival
7/9/2023 9:51 p.m
At the end of the controversial Eritrea festival, the police took stock: 131 arrests, 125 criminal proceedings and 26 injured police officers, seven of them seriously. Good news: the officials were able to prevent visitors or opponents from being harmed in Gießen.
According to the police, 125 criminal charges have been filed so far after the riots surrounding the controversial Eritrea Festival in Giessen. It was almost exclusively about breach of the peace, the police said in the evening in a preliminary summary of their four-day operation around the festival. 131 people were taken into custody. In addition, the police spoke of 26 injured officers in the evening after 28 injured police officers had been mentioned around noon. Two of the cases did not come true, said a police spokesman on request.
Seven of the officers suffered more serious injuries such as a broken bone, open abrasions and torn ligaments. It was not known that visitors or opponents of the event had been seriously injured or that uninvolved third parties had suffered injuries. A total of more than 1,800 people were checked or their identities determined on the four days of use in connection with the events in the central Hessian city.
“Unfortunately, early danger forecast confirmed”
Immediately after the Eritrea Festival was registered, the police headquarters began preparations, which also included the experiences of the previous event last August, it said. At that time, too, there had been violent protests with injured visitors and police officers. This year there were calls on social media to use force to prevent the event. These were directed against the visitors of the event and against the police. During consultations with the municipality, the danger prognosis was outlined in the course of the arrival of violent disruptors, also from other European countries, in the event that the event takes place. “Unfortunately, the police assessment of the risk situation was confirmed by the course of yesterday.”
The organizer of the festival was the Central Council of Eritreans in Germany, which is controversial because of its closeness to the regime in the country on the Horn of Africa. In Eritrea, President Isayas Afewerki rules the country in a one-party dictatorship. Freedom of expression and freedom of the press are severely restricted. Human rights organizations have also repeatedly reported serious abuses. The opponents of the festival were attributed to the regime opponents.