Leipzig forbids fresh far-left demo after 2 nights of unrest

City authorities in Leipzig said on Sunday that they would forbid another planned left-wing protest for the evening in the city. 

This follows two nights of violent clashes between police and protesters, with Leipzig police saying that 50 officers sustained injuries over the course of the weekend.

A spokesman for Leipzig's city council told the German dpa news agency the ban on another protest on Sunday was based on "the experience of Saturday evening."

The demonstration's registered motto translated as "against police violence." 

The underpinning legal rationale for the decision, they said, was a broader restriction for any protests in the city this weekend connected to the conviction earlier in the week of left-wing activist Lina E. for her part in violent physical assaults on neo-Nazis.

She received a jail term of more than 5 years, but was also told she could go free until she had exhausted her avenues to appeal and would only serve the remainder of her custodial sentence if unsuccessful.

The activist studied in Leipzig and support for her had been particularly vocal in the student-dominated and left-leaning Connewitz district in the south of the city, where most of the violence took place.

Reports on Sunday night suggested that the city was calm, despite small groups gathering in Connewitz.  

On Saturday, around 1,500 people turned up to the demonstration, even though several courts had refused to authorize it. Police first tried to accommodate the protest, but broke it up when officers came under attack.

Fifty officers injured on Saturday, almost 30 suspects may face charges

Mayor Burkhard Jung and Saxony police officials in the eastern city gave an update on Sunday about the extent of the weekend's unrest. 

According to current information, police said "roughly 50 officers" had been injured since the first violence flared late on Friday. They said protesters were also among the injured, but that they could not provide figures. 

They added that 50 people had been held in preliminary detention before being released by noon on Sunday. 

Police said that nearly 30 people had been arrested on suspicion of criminal offenses and that a handful had already been charged.

They also said that on Saturday, around 1,000 people were kept in a "kettle" while police sought to ascertain their identities. This was necessary, they said, because of the preliminary suspicion of either severe breach of the peace or of attacking police officers against these people. 

This kettling of a larger crowd of protesters was probably the one part of the police operation drawing some media criticism on Sunday, with some questioning its appropriateness and arguing it would provide valuable propaganda material for the activists of supposed police abuse. 

Interior Minister Faeser pledges sharp eye in coming days, weeks

German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser was among the politicians to respond to the unrest on Sunday. 

"The pointless violence of extreme left-wing anarchists and vandals can be justified by nothing," Faeser said. "Anyone throwing stones, bottles or flaming objects at police must promptly face the consequences." 

Faeser said that security authorities "will continue to keep the far-left scene that's willing to use violence in very sharp focus and step in appropriately, should criminal or violent acts take place." 

She also thanked police officers and rescue workers alike for their efforts over the weekend in Leipzig. 

Meanwhile, Saxony's state Interior Minister Armin Schuster said that the attacks on law enforcement had shown that the original decision to try to restrict the protests, which had drawn some criticism, "was correct."

Courts had said there was ample online evidence in early appeals to suggest participants would be willing to use violence and could endanger other people.

msh/nm (AFP, epd, dpa, Reuters)