The crowd for the rally this Saturday was already lively at lunchtime. The gathering began at Heldenplatz, followed by a protest march on the Ring. This time the FPÖ invited to march again. A “mega-demo for freedom against chaos and coercion” has been advertised for days. The rally organized by the blues took place in “cooperation with various citizen movements”, announced the FPÖ. Their party leader Herbert Kickl is also on the program as a speaker. He is supposed to perform shortly after 1 p.m. Most recently, the involvement of liberal political representatives caused quite a stir.
Outrage over Belakovich fake news
The FPÖ MP Dagmar Belakowitsch claimed in a demo last week that it was “not the bad, unvaccinated” people who fill the hospitals. “Oh no, there are a lot of people who have been vaccinated and who have to be treated for vaccine damage,” said the blue mandatary. That caused massive criticism. The Viennese hospital director Michael Binder made it clear a little later: “There are no patients there who are treated with vaccine damage.”
Several thousand participants expected
A total of 32 gatherings were registered for Saturday at the Vienna State Police Department, seven of which were prohibited, however, and one rejected due to a formal error. Not all of the meetings taking place will be directed against the COVID measures – but the FPÖ demo is likely to be the largest. Kickl as well as other organizers expect several thousand participants. Last week, more than 40,000 people came to downtown Vienna to demonstrate against corona measures.
In order to ensure a safe process and compliance with the applicable Covid regulations, the Vienna police, supported by police officers from other federal states, will be on duty with around 1,400 officers. In addition to staff for the security service and property protection, employees of the constitutional protection and the state criminal investigation office will also be on duty, it was also announced.
The Vienna police will again provide two contact officers for media representatives on Saturday. They should be contacted especially in cases of disruptive actions against journalistic work or if they are aware of criminal acts. Recently, there had been more and more attacks during demonstrations by opponents of the measures. Officials were injured and demonstrators – often from right-wing extremist circles – arrested.
So far peaceful
Before the demonstration, Kickl appealed to the participants to behave peacefully. It is crucial that protest measures take place in an orderly manner and peacefully, he said in advance. This was still the case, at least around noon. The scenery at Heldenplatz corresponded to the meanwhile familiar picture.
Numerous slogans on the banners, boards or stickers were dedicated to the mandatory vaccination – which the participants clearly rejected. “No to compulsory vaccination” was probably the most frequently read. The demand “hands off our children” was also very present. The resignation of the government was also urged on numerous boards and stickers.
Source: Nachrichten
