On the night of Saturday there were riots in Leipzig by the left-wing radical scene. Despite the ban on a large demonstration, the police have prepared for a large-scale operation on Saturday.
According to the police, the situation in Leipzig after the verdict against left-wing extremist Lina E. remained largely calm until Saturday afternoon. Despite the final ban on a large “Day X” demonstration by the radical left-wing scene, the police are present in large numbers. She expected thousands of people to come. The city also hosts the Saxony Cup final, the city festival and a concert by Herbert Grönemeyer.
There were checkpoints all day long on access roads to the city and at the train station. Several vehicles and garbage cans were on fire early Saturday afternoon. A police spokeswoman spoke of a single-digit number of fires, especially in the south and south-west of the city.
Left-wing circles were mobilized nationwide for the demonstration on Saturday. The reason is the verdict against Lina E. and three co-defendants for attacks on alleged or actual neo-Nazis, in which several people were injured, some seriously. The 28-year-old was sentenced to five years and three months in prison by the Dresden Higher Regional Court on Wednesday for left-wing violence.
Urgent application in Karlsruhe unsuccessful
A complaint to the Federal Constitutional Court against the ban on the “Day X” demo was unsuccessful. A spokesman in Karlsruhe announced that the urgent application with a constitutional complaint was not accepted for decision by a decision on Saturday and was therefore irrelevant for the court. The decisions of the Saxon Higher Administrative Court and the Leipzig Administrative Court on Friday, according to which the ban is in place, remain in place. The urgent application against the ban was received in Karlsruhe on Saturday morning.
But there are other demonstrations in the city that are not prohibited. For example, one was announced for the afternoon on Alexis-Schumann-Platz entitled “Freedom of assembly also applies in Leipzig”. First of all, this is where the focus of operations lies, said a police spokeswoman. The environmental movement Fridays for Future marched from Bayerischer Platz to the Natural History Museum in a demonstration in the afternoon. Another meeting under the motto “Freedom for all political prisoners” was also banned by the city.
Burning barricades
Hooded police officers attacked on Friday evening. After the initially peaceful course of a meeting on Wiedebachplatz in the Connewitz district, stones were thrown out of a crowd of up to 700 hooded people and pyrotechnics were ignited. Barricades made of rubbish bins and construction site barriers burned both there and in side streets. The police used tear gas and, according to their own statements, objects were thrown at them from the roofs of houses.
Most of the burning barricades were extinguished shortly after midnight, some with the help of water cannons. According to initial findings, 23 officers were injured. One of them was treated in the hospital. A journalist was reportedly attacked by an unknown person and slightly injured. 17 police vehicles were damaged. Eight vehicles were set on fire, including residents’ cars, sources said.
Damage “in the high five-digit sum” was caused at a bank branch, the police said. It is determined, among other things, because of serious breaches of the peace. According to the information, five suspects were arrested and three people were taken into custody.
Source: Stern
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