Extremism: protest after verdict against Lina E. – clashes in Leipzig

extremism
Protest after verdict against Lina E. – clashes in Leipzig

According to the police, around 500 participants took part in a demonstration for Lina E. in Leipzig. photo

© Jan Woitas/dpa

After the verdict against the 28-year-old student Lina E. and three co-defendants for attacks on right-wing extremists, left-wing sympathizers took to the streets. Especially in Leipzig, the atmosphere is heated.

After the guilty verdict for the student Lina E. for left-wing extremist acts of violence, sympathizers in several cities protested against the verdict. There were riots and clashes on Wednesday evening. According to a police spokesman, a meeting in Leipzig was declared over after bottles and pyrotechnics were thrown in the direction of the officers. Around 350 mostly masked people had gathered in downtown Bremen and then “relatively quickly and suddenly” attacked emergency services, said a police spokeswoman. There were also solidarity rallies for Lina E. in Berlin, Hamburg and Dresden.

The student was sentenced to five years and three months in prison on Wednesday. The Dresden Higher Regional Court found the 28-year-old from Kassel guilty of membership in a criminal organization for several attacks on right-wing extremists. Three co-defendants received sentences of between two years and five months and three years and three months. The arrest warrant against Lina E. was suspended against conditions. She only has to serve the rest of the sentence when the verdict is final – the court allowed an appeal.

The Federal Public Prosecutor accused the group of brutally beating up actual or supposed supporters of the right-wing scene in Leipzig, Eisenach and in the town of Wurzen between 2018 and 2020.

Heated atmosphere in Leipzig

According to the impressions of a dpa reporter, a high potential for aggression was felt in Leipzig after the verdict. Demonstrators shouted anti-police slogans, pyrotechnics were detonated and police officers were thrown with firecrackers. A police spokesman said there had been crimes from several groups. For example, demonstrators erected barricades and threw stones, bottles and pyrotechnics at officials. Four emergency services were slightly injured, the police said in the night. There were no arrests.

In the evening, the police in Leipzig cleared a barricade that demonstrators had erected at an intersection with construction barriers and the contents of glass containers. A clearing tank was used. A water cannon was also available. The police put the number of protesters at around 800. In the park where the meeting took place, however, the situation had calmed down somewhat late in the evening. Emergency services were still out and about in the city during the night.

The police spokeswoman said about the riots in Bremen that glass bottles and stones were thrown at police officers and pyrotechnics were also set off. A police car was also damaged. Nobody was injured. About 70 suspects were arrested according to the police. The situation calmed down late in the evening. According to the police, they were deployed with numerous forces. A water cannon and an armored vehicle were also ready.

Left-wing radicals are calling for further protests

Hundreds of supporters of the left-wing scene gathered in Hamburg to protest against the court decision and, accompanied by police officers, marched through the Schanzenviertel. Slogans such as “Free them all” and “Fight their class justice” were on their banners. The police spoke of around 1,200 participants during the night. Bottles and pyrotechnics were thrown at police officers. According to a spokesman, three officers were slightly injured. There were also five arrests. Despite everything, the demonstration was “predominantly peaceful,” said a police spokesman.

In Berlin, the police put the number of participants during the night at around 450. The demonstration was largely peaceful, there were only a few scuffles. According to a spokesman, three police officers were slightly injured. One person was arrested.

For Saturday, the radical left scene is calling for national participation in a big “Day X” in Leipzig. The police fear riots and are preparing a large-scale operation.

dpa

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