After escalation in Stuttgart: Organizers of Eritrea rallies criticize police

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The violence was enormous and shocked both the population and the authorities. Stuttgart police had to break up serious riots between supporters and opponents of the Eritrean regime on Saturday. The emergency services were sometimes brutally attacked. The organizers make accusations against the police.

The origin of the violent riots was a so-called ‘information meeting’ of Eritrean associations close to the dictatorial regime of the African country. Several hundred opponents of the event gathered in the city to protest. They were then assigned a meeting place, but it was turned down, Stuttgart police said.

Then the situation escalated: street fights broke out. Police officers were sometimes attacked by participants with wooden slats, nails and metal bars. The police fought back with batons and pepper spray. 27 police officers were injured. Stuttgart’s deputy police chief was shocked after the attacks. “This is just a small fragment of what happened yesterday with a certain degree of tragedy,” he said. “Everything was done to expose us to enormous injuries.” The rule of law could not tolerate this in any way.

The authorities took the matter lightly

The organizers of the demonstration are now making serious accusations against the police. The police are said to have taken the matter lightly. The authorities were warned in advance of an escalation. Police responded that such events in the past were usually peaceful.

Johannes Russom of the Association of Eritrean Clubs only says of the attackers: “They are not opponents of the government, they are violent criminals.” If they want to fight the government, they should do it locally. Saturday’s events did not appear to deter the organizers of the pro-government rallies. A new event is already planned for next weekend. Violent clashes are once again feared.

According to Russom, it should not get to this point. The German state must protect the event: “As a democratic country it must be interested in it.” After all, there have been similar events over the past forty years without incident.

63 people came from Switzerland

227 of the 228 suspected rioters are now free again. Criminal proceedings are underway against the suspects for serious disruption of public order, the police announced on Sunday.

According to police information, 63 people come from Switzerland. The rest came from the Stuttgart area and the Hessian city of Giessen. The meetings in Eritrea have also escalated there in the past. (An)

Source: Blick