Friday April 16, 2021
Anger over the rent cover judgment
Ten thousand Berliners demonstrate
The Federal Constitutional Court overturns the Berlin rent cap and thus brings many residents of the capital against them. Thousands of them roam the Neukölln and Kreuzberg districts in the evening to loudly demand a nationwide rent law. Later there were isolated skirmishes with the police.
After the end of the Berlin rent cap before the Federal Constitutional Court, thousands of people demonstrated in the federal capital for a nationwide rent freeze. They criticized the decision of the highest German court and demanded more political action against the “rent madness”. Many participants had brought cooking pot lids with them on Thursday evening, with which they made a lot of noise. Motto: “If you take a lid from us, we’ll come back with a thousand lids!” The demonstrators first gathered at Hermannplatz in Neukölln and then started an elevator that led to Kottbusser Tor in Kreuzberg.
Although the demonstration was ended there by the meeting leader, 400 participants did not want to leave the place, said a police spokesman on Thursday evening. From this group there were isolated crimes against police officers. As a result, announcements were first made and then police measures were taken. Observers criticize that the officials also took action against bystanders. According to a spokesman, the police will not announce more details about the operation until Friday morning. The “Tagesspiegel” reported occasional bottle throws and scuffles. According to the report, there are said to have been arrests. The police did not initially confirm this. Around 9 p.m. the situation calmed down again.
The Berlin tenants’ association had called for the protest. The police spoke of a number of participants “in the middle four-digit range”, the organizers of 15,000 demonstrators, observers estimate the number at a good 10,000. According to the police, practically everyone wore a mask to protect against corona and also tried to keep a little distance from each other. The Federal Constitutional Court had declared the Berlin rent cover law, which had been in force for more than a year, to be null and void in a decision announced on Thursday. The federal government was responsible for tenancy law, it was said to justify. Many people in apartments with previously capped rent now have to pay back payments.
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