Large left demo forbidden
Demonstrators attack police in Leipzig
06/03/2023, 8:17 p.m
For days, the left-wing scene has been mobilizing for a major demonstration in Leipzig today. Since the actually planned solidarity rally for the convicted Lina E. is banned, around 1,500 people gather for a replacement demo. Several police officers are injured.
There have been renewed clashes between the police and demonstrators in Leipzig. At a demonstration on Alexis-Schumann-Platz there were gun salutes. Stones, bottles and an incendiary device were thrown at police officers. The police surrounded some of the demonstrators and spoke of “massive riots” in the south of Leipzig. A spokesman said several water cannons were positioned but not used.
According to the police, around 1,500 participants had gathered for the demonstration in the afternoon, a third of them violent. 100 demonstrators were registered. The meeting initially remained peaceful, but then escalated. Several officers were hit and injured by stones and other projectiles, a police spokesman said in the evening. The police have not yet released the exact number of injured officers.
“The situation on Karl-Liebknecht-Strasse is becoming unpeaceful. Our forces are repeatedly attacked and thrown at with stones/pyrotechnics,” the police wrote on Twitter in the evening. One appeals to all people there to distance themselves from criminals and to behave peacefully. “Bystanders are asked to leave or avoid the area.”
Several vehicles and garbage cans burn
In left circles nationwide for the demonstration had been mobilized. The reason is the verdict against Lina E. and three co-defendants for attacks on alleged or actual neo-Nazis, in which several people were injured, some seriously. The 28-year-old was sentenced to five years and three months in prison by the Dresden Higher Regional Court on Wednesday.
Despite the final ban on a large “Day X” demonstration by the radical left-wing scene, the police were present in Leipzig in large numbers. In addition, the Saxony Cup final, the city festival and a concert by Herbert Grönemeyer took place in the city. There were checkpoints all day long on access roads to the city and at the train station. Several vehicles and garbage cans were on fire early Saturday afternoon.
The “Day X” demo was supposed to take place on Saturday at 5 p.m. on Wolfgang-Heinze-Strasse. However, the city banned them. The ban had been confirmed by both the Leipzig Administrative Court and the Saxon Higher Administrative Court. A constitutional complaint to the Federal Constitutional Court was also unsuccessful. She was not accepted for decision.
Left criticizes the police
After the riots, the left criticized the actions of the police. Your head of parliament in the Saxon state parliament, Marco Böhme, accused the police on Twitter of having allowed the situation to escalate with the “actual ban”. The left-wing member of the state parliament Kerstin Köditz criticized the decision not to let the demonstrators go. “De-escalation looks different,” said the politician on Twitter. The left-wing alliance “Dresden Nazifrei” described the behavior of the police as “martial”.
There had already been riots in Leipzig-Connewitz on Friday evening. According to initial findings, 23 officers were injured. One of them was treated in the hospital. 17 police vehicles were damaged. Eight vehicles were set on fire, including residents’ cars, sources said. Damage “in the high five-digit sum” was caused at a bank branch, the police said. It is determined, among other things, because of serious breaches of the peace. According to the information, five suspects were arrested and three people were taken into custody.