Many injured in far-left protest demanding activists release: Germany
German police report that protesters set up roadblocks, ignited fires, and hurled missiles at security officers.
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Several police officers deployed at a far-left protest in Leipzig, Germany (AFP)
On Friday evening, far-left demonstrators battled with police in Leipzig, eastern Germany, where further rallies are anticipated despite a ban.
Police reported that protesters set up roadblocks, ignited fires, and hurled missiles at security officers from roofs and the streets to protest the prison sentences handed out to four far-left activists.
Several police and a reporter were wounded and three of the hundreds of demonstrators were detained, as per police reports.
"We have launched inquires into public disorder, dangerous injuries, assaults on police officers, damage to property, and the illegal use of explosives," Leipzig police tweeted Saturday.
Despite a restriction imposed by municipal authorities, far-left activists called for a nationwide day of protest in Leipzig on Saturday on social media.
The rioting comes after a court in Dresden, Saxony, sentenced a Leipzig student and three other far-left activists to many years in jail last Wednesday.
Lina F. and the other three were convicted of assaulting neo-Nazis and far-right followers between 2018 and 2020.
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