Demonstrations
Serious riots at Eritrea meeting in Stuttgart
A group of people celebrate after riots at an Eritrea event. photo
© Jason Cheplyakov/dpa
Casting 2.0? Once again there are brutal scenes in connection with an event in Eritrea. Stones and bottles fly at police officers, wooden slats are used as weapons.
24 officers were injured. The police surrounded 170 people that evening. The spokesman said they were accused of a serious breach of the peace. Videos on social media show men attacking police officers with wooden bars and bottles.
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. They also attacked meeting participants and police officers with wooden slats.
Batons and pepper spray
The police used batons and pepper spray against the attackers, said the spokesman. Forces were ordered from surrounding police headquarters and from the police headquarters and the federal police. Police officers were also flown in by helicopter. The situation was confusing for a long time. Officials asked citizens to avoid the area. Residents were asked to stay at home. In the evening the police reported that the situation was largely stable. She recorded the personal details of 170 suspected attackers.
According to the city, there were no reasons to ban the meeting in Stuttgart. “Gatherings in closed rooms do not require registration,” the state capital announced late in the 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.
Eritrea largely isolated
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.
In July there were 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. In August, violent riots broke out at an Eritrean festival in Stockholm, leaving more than 50 people injured.
Federal Agriculture Minister Cem Ödzemir (Greens) wrote on Platform X that the perpetrators of violence must be brought to justice quickly.
CDU demands immediate 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.”