Tuesday, December 28, 2021
Use in corona protests
GdP: “Do not abuse the police as a substitute for discussion”
In Saxony there have been riots during protests against the corona measures in the past few days. The police also use tear gas. The police union has criticized the way in which the protesters were dealt with. A debate about the meaning of the corona measures would be better.
After riots during Corona protests in Bautzen, displeasure among the police union (GdP) is growing. State chief Hagen Husgen suspected that the police would be abused as a substitute for the political dispute. With the expiry of the current Corona regulation from January 10th, restrictions on the right of assembly must be checked. The falling number of infections should justify this, said Husgen.
According to the Corona Ordinance, only fixed meetings with a maximum of ten participants are currently allowed in Saxony. This is regularly undermined by opponents of the corona measures that move through Saxony’s cities. In the districts of Görlitz and Bautzen alone, according to the police, more than 4,400 people took part in – often illegal – demonstrations on Monday evening. When the police tried to stop an elevator in Bautzen, riots broke out.
In view of the sometimes violent demonstrations, calls for a ban on the right-wing extremist Free Saxony party were also voiced. All criteria are met, Interior Minister Roland Wöller has to act, wrote the left-wing member of the state parliament Kerstin Köditz on Twitter.
The police were understaffed and overwhelmed during the unauthorized demonstrations in East Saxony, said the interior politician. A ban on the Free Saxons would not solve the problem, she admitted. “But it can be part of a solution to the problem.” At the same time, the police leadership needs to rethink.
Social problems could not be solved by police means, emphasized GdP country chief Husgen: “It must not be the task of the police to stop a broad opinion dispute on the street, provided that it is peaceful, by police means, just because politics do so Outsourced the dispute to the police. “