Solidarity protests for Lina E.
Left-wing extremists riot in Leipzig
6/3/2023 3:28 am
After the conviction of Lina E., left-wing extremists want to show their colors in Leipzig. A number of protesters are already gathering in the city during the night. Stones and firecrackers fly at police officers.
Before a left-wing autonomous solidarity day for the convicted student Lina E., hooded people attacked police officers in Leipzig. After an initially peaceful meeting at Wiedebachplatz in the Connewitz district, stones and pyrotechnics suddenly flew out of a crowd of several hundred masked people at officials, as a dpa reporter observed. Barricades made of rubbish bins and construction site barriers burned both there and in side streets. The police used tear gas and said they were “objects thrown at” from the roofs of houses.
In social networks there had been a call from the left-wing scene for “mass corners”, i.e. for larger gatherings to show solidarity with the student Lina E. despite the ban on the so-called Day X demo this Saturday. The “Day X” was a reaction to the verdict against the 28-year-old and three co-defendants for attacks on alleged or actual neo-Nazis.
In anticipation of impending riots, the police prepared a large-scale operation. Leipzig’s Lord Mayor Burkhard Jung was concerned about security in the trade fair city in the face of numerous calls for violence on social media. Most of the burning barricades were extinguished shortly after midnight, partly with the help of water cannons.
According to the police, “crimes continued to be committed” during the night. Accordingly, several officers were slightly injured, one had come to the hospital for treatment. A journalist was attacked by an unknown person and slightly injured. By early morning there had been three preliminary arrests for serious breaches of the peace. “Investigations into breach of the peace, dangerous bodily harm, physical assault on police officers, damage to property and a violation of the Explosives Act have been initiated,” the police said.
The quartet around Lina E. was sentenced to several years in prison by the Dresden Higher Regional Court on Wednesday for assault and membership in or support of a criminal organization. Lina E., who had been in custody for two and a half years, was provisionally released after the verdict was pronounced – the court cited a rheumatic disease in the 28-year-old and a previous conviction as a result of media reporting as justification.
A left-wing autonomous demonstration planned for Saturday remains prohibited. The administrative court in Leipzig rejected an urgent application against the ban by the city late Friday afternoon. A complaint was lodged with the Saxon Higher Administrative Court in Bautzen in the evening, which was ultimately also rejected. The city of Leipzig had banned the “Day X” demo because it was feared that it would not go peacefully. The basis for this were risk forecasts by the police and situation assessments by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution.