Festival goes on
Police report a quiet night in Gießen
After the riots surrounding the controversial Eritrea Festival in Gießen, the situation has calmed down somewhat on Saturday afternoon, according to the police. photo
© Helmut Fricke/dpa
A large police force is still on duty in Giessen today to prevent clashes. The background is a controversial Eritrea festival.
After the riots around EritreaFestival in Gießen was quiet on Sunday night, according to the police. The controls in the city area were continued, there were no significant violations, said the police headquarters in Central Hesse in the morning.
Opponents of the festival attacked police officers on Saturday and, among other things, tried to get to the festival site. Police used batons and pepper spray, among other things. According to the officials, stones and bottles were thrown at them, and 27 injured police officers were counted. On Saturday evening, the police initially reported 26 injured officers. However, the majority of them were able to continue the service. The police had no information about uninvolved injured or seriously injured in the ranks of the festival opponents.
Around 1,700 people took part in the event on the site outside of the city center until after midnight. Several hundred people were still there on Sunday morning. The festival ends on Sunday afternoon.
The organizer is the Central Council of Eritreans in Germany, which is considered controversial because of its proximity to the regime in the East African country. In Eritrea, President Isayas Afewerki rules the country in a one-party dictatorship. Freedom of expression and freedom of the press are severely restricted. Already in August 2022 there had been violent riots at the previous event.