Around 200 people attacked participants at an event organized by Eritrean associations in Stuttgart. Police officers were also attacked – some with bottles and wooden slats. According to authorities, more than 30 people were injured.
There were violent clashes with injuries at an event organized by exiled Eritreans in Germany. As the police in Stuttgart announced, there were “massive riots” there on Saturday at a registered event organized by an Eritrean association.
A police spokesman said on Saturday that up to 200 people attacked participants in the meeting and police officers with stones, bottles and wooden slats. More than 30 people were injured. According to the police, the attacks came from several hundred opponents of the registered event, who were presumably critics of the Eritrean authoritarian regime.
Reinforcement by the Federal Police
According to police, around 200 people gathered on Saturday afternoon for an event organized by the Association of Eritrean Clubs in Stuttgart and the surrounding area. According to the police spokesman, the clubs sympathized with the government in Eritrea. At lunchtime, several small groups of opposition members gathered at Bad Cannstatt train station and Stuttgart main station. They attacked the officers at the Stuttgart Roman fort and threw bottles and stones at them. Some participants also used wooden slats, some with nails, and metal rods to attack officers, the police spokesman said.
The police, who said they had more than 300 officers on duty, used batons and pepper spray against the attackers. Forces were requested from surrounding police headquarters, and the federal police also supported the operation. According to the police, a total of 26 police officers, four event participants and two opposition members were injured in the riots. Six officers had to be treated in hospital and five police officers were unable to continue their duties.
According to their own information, the police surrounded 170 people. The spokesman said they were accused of a serious breach of the peace. The officers identified the demonstrators’ identities and issued expulsions. According to the police, the situation was largely stable in the evening.
City of Stuttgart: No reasons for ban
According to the city of Stuttgart, there were no reasons to ban the meeting. “Gatherings in closed rooms do not require registration,” the state capital announced on Saturday evening. “There were no reasons to ban today’s Eritrea event.” The city of Stuttgart will draw conclusions from the results of the public prosecutor’s investigation.
Mayor Frank Nopper (CDU) said that the violence and riots were condemned in the strongest possible terms. “We must take decisive action against the emergence of conflicts from other states on German soil.” He wished the injured police officers a speedy recovery. There is currently no information on the severity of the injuries.
State CDU calls for expulsions
The CDU parliamentary group leader in the Baden-Württemberg state parliament, Manuel Hagel, spoke of “outbreaks of violence” that were “outrageous”. “We cannot accept that on our streets! These people who act so brutally against other people, against our police officers, have forfeited their right to find protection and refuge with us.” Hagel called for immediate expulsions. If necessary, the residence law must be tightened.
The state chairman of the Junge Union Baden-Württemberg, Florian Hummel, said that the riots were an expression of the state’s loss of control. “We cannot continue to accept this loss of control and must be honest, especially when it comes to migration policy: it cannot be the case that imported conflicts are being fought out on German streets.”
Authoritarian ruled Eritrea
In July there had already been riots at an Eritrea festival in Gießen, Hesse, with at least 26 injured police officers when opponents of the event attacked security forces by throwing stones and bottles and setting off smoke bombs. Among other things, the officers used batons against them. The organizers of the event in Giessen were close to the controversial leadership of the East African country.
Eritrea, with a population of around three million, is located in northeast Africa on the Red Sea and is largely isolated internationally. Since independence from Ethiopia was won in a decades-long war 30 years ago, President Isaias Afewerki has ruled the country in a one-party dictatorship. Other parties are banned and freedom of expression and freedom of the press are severely restricted. There is neither a parliament nor independent courts or civil society organizations. There is also a strict military service and forced labor system, from which many people flee abroad.