Dozens of protests were held across Germany on Saturday as part of a protest movement targeting restrictive measures against the growing coronavirus.
“Freedom of thought“,”Don’t touch the Constitution“… These rallies have been held since the beginning of April every Saturday, at the initial call of a motley collective called”Democratic resistance“.
He sees in the containment measures decided by the government to fight the pandemic since March the start of an authoritarian regime or an unlawful attack on individual freedoms.
“This confinement was totally unnecessary“is indignant Kathrin, a 42-year-old Berlin protester, participating, in music, in a rally of a hundred people in front of the city hall of the German capital.
“I do not understand why we cannot return to normality now. Coronavirus has killed far less than flu in recent years“comments Moritz, another 28-year-old Berlin participant.
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These demonstrations bring together a diverse population, made up of militant extremists, conspiracy theorists, and people sincerely worried about a limitation of public freedoms.
In Berlin, nearly 30 rallies – fewer than the previous weeks – were recorded, as well as counter-demonstrations, a police spokesman for the AFP said.
Demonstrations have also been organized all over the country, notably in Nurenberg, Munich and Stuttgart, but have not gathered as much as in recent weeks, notably due to bad weather.
In Hamburg (north), 750 people demonstrated, while an unauthorized counter-assembly of 120 people was dispersed by the police with water cannons, a police spokeswoman said.
Police across Germany made several arrests, including one of the movement’s leading figures, vegan activist and TV star Attila Hildmann, who participated in an unauthorized demonstration by around 100 people in Berlin. , according to the newspaper ‘Der Spiegel’.
Particularly targeted by protesters, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Saturday that restrictions on the coronavirus had been “required“, as the country gradually loosens these measures since early May.
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