The left calls for a special session
Politicians accuse the police in Leipzig of escalating behavior
6/4/2023 3:39 p.m
The shards in Leipzig are being swept up and the demo is being processed. While the mayor and chief of police praise the emergency services, criticism comes from the left and the SPD: the police have contributed to the escalation, they say. Another demo on Sunday will be banned.
The Saxon SPD domestic politician Albrecht Pallas accused the police of having contributed to the escalation during the riots in Leipzig on Saturday evening. The member of parliament accused the police leadership of a “provocative approach”. The violence of some demonstrators is unacceptable, he stressed. However, the police acted with unnecessary harshness when pushing away bystanders and surrounded many people for hours.
“It culminated in the sealing off of the entire Connewitz district after two barricade fires,” emphasized Pallas. “The massive police presence or the resulting massive police reaction to trifles had an escalating effect, which mostly affected bystanders.” Pallas is a detective by profession and, according to his own statements, was in Leipzig as a parliamentary observer himself.
The left-wing faction in the Saxon state parliament does not stop at criticism. She wants to make the police action an issue in the interior committee. MP Kerstin Köditz said on Twitter that her parliamentary group would request a special session on Monday. “The background to the violations of fundamental rights, especially the boiler, is in need of clarification.” The Ministry of the Interior is responsible.
The city administration and the police meanwhile defended their actions. “Unfortunately, we have to experience that violent criminals mingle with a demonstration that has been announced as peaceful, that it is exploited and that violence then erupts as a result,” said Mayor Burkhard Jung. It was therefore right to ban two other demonstrations beforehand. He thanked the police for their work. In this way it was possible to keep the city viable despite the “terrible events”.
Police chief Demmler spoke of “a lot of senseless, extreme violence”. It was therefore necessary to de-escalate through strength. Demmler emphasized that no meeting was dissolved. It had been tried for an hour with the leader of the meeting to reach a stationary rally.
Faeser wants to keep a close eye on left-wing extremists
Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser condemned the riots at the protests on Saturday. “The senseless violence of left-wing extremist chaos and rioters cannot be justified by anything. Anyone who throws stones, bottles and incendiary devices at police officers must be held accountable. I sincerely wish the injured police officers that they recover quickly.” , according to Faeser. In addition, the security authorities would continue to keep a very close eye on the violent left-wing extremist scene in the coming days and weeks and intervene consistently if criminal and violent crimes occurred.
The city of Leipzig has meanwhile banned another demonstration scheduled for Sunday evening. “The reason for this is the experience of Saturday evening,” said a spokesman for the city. According to the city, the basis for the ban on the demonstration is a general decree that applies to Saturday and Sunday. This prohibits gatherings related to the verdict against left-wing extremist Lina E.
The Saxon state parliamentarians of the left, Juliane Nagel and Marco Böhme, described the ban as “scandalous”: “Basic rights were already overridden yesterday. We appeal to the mayor and the police leadership to stop making the city of Leipzig a zone free of fundamental rights”, they explained.
Numerous injuries on both sides
According to the police, around 50 police officers were injured in the riots. In addition, there were also injuries on the part of the demonstrators, said police chief René Demmler – but he could not quantify the exact number. The police are investigating, for example because of serious breaches of the peace and because of attacks on police officers. There have been almost 30 arrests, for which an application for arrest is now being examined, Demmler said. In addition, between 40 and 50 people were taken into custody and released by Sunday noon.
At the demonstration under the motto “Freedom of assembly also applies in Leipzig” with around 1,500 participants, stones, bottles and an incendiary device were thrown at police officers after a peaceful start on Saturday. The police surrounded around 1,000 of the demonstrators and spoke of “massive riots”.