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Police in Germany were accused of excessive use of force by protesters after riot police charged and used batons on a group of anti-fascist demonstrators over the weekend.<\/p>\n
The protest alliance Widersetzen, demonstrating against the founding of a youth organization tied to the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, accused police of brutality against protesters in the western German city of Giessen.<\/p>\n
“Police officers cleared a path for the fascists with their batons,” spokeswoman Laura Wolf said on Sunday.<\/p>\n
Hesse’s Interior Minister Roman Poseck meanwhile took the side of the police and said “without the police, there would have been the worst acts of violence and civil war-like conditions in Giessen.”<\/p>\n
Police said their efforts were aimed at preventing violence between opposing political groups.<\/p>\n
Tens of thousands gathered on Saturday, blocking roads into the university town of some 90,000 in an attempt to disrupt the formation of the far-right youth wing.<\/p>\n
Police in Germany have been accused of using excessive force at pro-Palestinian, environmentalist and anti-fascist demonstrations, where protesters have been injured by chokeholds, punches to the head and being thrown to the ground.<\/p>\n
The alliance said it initially had no figures on injured demonstrators or on people taken into custody. A local hospital told dpa several people had reported with injuries to hands and legs. Police said around 10 to 15 officers also suffered minor injuries.<\/p>\n
Marburg lawyer Jannik Rienhoff, who represents several activists taken into custody, said the basic right to freedom of assembly had “not been taken particularly seriously” even beforehand.<\/p>\n
Suraj Mailitafi of Widersetzen said the city of Giessen and police created a climate of fear before the protests and that participants were the victims of “arbitrary violence,” while the far-right was courted.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n