Police in Berlin cut short protest against coronavirus restrictions

 

Police in Berlin cut short protest against coronavirus restrictions

Protesters failed to respect social distancing, say police.

 

By MAÏA DE LA BAUME 8/29/20, 4:56 PM CET Updated 8/29/20, 6:12 PM CET

https://www.politico.eu/article/police-in-berlin-cut-short-protest-against-coronavirus-restrictions/

 

Police in Berlin on Saturday shut down a demonstration against coronavirus restrictions because protesters breached court-ordered guidelines on social distancing, according to German daily Die Welt.

 

About 18,000 protesters showed up in the German capital on Saturday morning, a day after a court overturned the city's ban on the protest, according to police estimates. The protests were organized by the Stuttgart-based movement Querdenken 711, which has more than 16,000 followers on Facebook.

 

Police officials said on Twitter they had "no other option" than to stop the protest. "We've approached the leader of the demonstration and informed him that his assembly will be dissolved by the police," the police tweeted. "All the measures taken so far have not led to compliance with the conditions."

 

On Friday, a German regional court gave the green light to the mass demonstration in Berlin, ruling against the capital’s ban on such protests. Berlin had announced the ban earlier in the week, according to Deutsche Welle, because protesters had not taken sufficient safety precautions at a similar demonstration earlier this month.