In Berlin, Germany’s capital city, an extreme-right march was halted abruptly on Saturday.
Counter-protests, including sit-ins and blockades, disrupted the march’s route through the Friedrichshain district, resulting in protesters being stranded at the Ostkreuz station. Authorities then decided to cancel the event.
Approximately 850 people participated in the march, named “For Justice and Order. Against the Extreme Left and Politically Motivated Violence.” Previous iterations of the march drew around 60 participants in December and 150 in January. Ferhat Sentürk from the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), who organised the march, expected 2,500 attendees. Berlin police reported that between 2,000 and 5,000 people were involved in fifteen counter-protests.
About 1,500 police officers were deployed to keep the opposing groups separated. More than eighty people, mainly from the far-right, were arrested, facing charges related to “unconstitutional symbols and banned greetings,” insults, injuries, and resisting arrest. Three individuals had been excluded from the march earlier. During the counter-protests, twenty people were arrested for resistance and public violence against persons or property.
Eleven police officers were injured during the events.
