Left-wing extremist demonstration in Leipzig on June 3rd. JENS SCHLUTER / AFP
Dozens were injured in clashes between far-left activists and police this weekend in Leipzig (East). Home Secretary Nancy Faeser condemned the incidents on Sunday 4 June. Demonstrators blocked roads, set fires on public roads and threw projectiles at security forces – in response to the jail sentences handed down by the German judiciary this week to four extremist activists from DIE LINKE.
Around 50 police officers were injured in the protests, which began on Friday evening, including three officers who were declared “unfit for duty”, according to a statement from the Leipzig police. Police arrested around 30 people and more than 50 people were held in custody before being released. “This senseless violence by far-left anarchists and rioters cannot be justified,” the minister said in a statement. Hundreds of people joined the protests after left-wing activists called for a day of action in Leipzig on Saturday.
On Wednesday, a court in Dresden sentenced the Leipzig student Lina E. and three other left-wing extremist activists to several years in prison. The group was found guilty of attacks on neo-Nazis and suspected far-right activists between 2018 and 2020. Since her arrest in 2020, Lina E. has become a symbolic figure, with the slogan “Free Lina” regularly popping up at left-faring protests. according to German media.
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