Because of the controversial Eritrea festival in Gießen, the police are also on Sunday with hundreds of forces. Opponents of the event rioted on Saturday and tried, among other things, to get to the festival site. According to the police, they threw bottles and stones at the officers and set off smoke bombs. The police used pepper spray and batons. 26 police officers were injured, but most were able to continue their service.
According to officials, no bystanders were injured. The rescue control center is also not aware of any serious injuries from the ranks of festival opponents or festival visitors.
The event started on Saturday and will last two days. The city of Gießen wanted to ban the festival because there had already been outbreaks of violence at the previous edition a year ago. However, courts lifted the ban. According to the city, the festival moved from Frankfurt to Gießen more than ten years ago, probably because of the central location of the central Hessian city and the suitable hall for the celebration, which is located outside of Gießen’s city center.
The organizer of the festival 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.
The police had been informed in advance that violent disruptors might be arriving to prevent the festival with food, music and lectures that had been announced for families. Hundreds of officers were then pulled together, and on Saturday more than 1,000 police officers were on duty in Gießen.
According to the police, groups of people of different strengths in Gießen caused riots in various places from early Saturday morning. A total of 100 investigations were initiated, including for physical harm and serious breach of the peace. The police officers checked more than 400 people and issued a ban on a large number of them. Around 100 people, some of whom had traveled from other European countries, were taken into custody. According to the police, there were still more than 1,000 people on the site on Sunday night. But it remained calm.
The mood was also partly heated in the social networks. The police warned of false reports. A police spokesman said some of the videos showing the riots circulating on the internet were believed to be from the previous year.
Hesse’s Interior Minister Peter Beuth (CDU) called on the federal government to summon the ambassador of the East African country. “It must be made clear to the Eritrean government that Eritrean conflicts must not be fought on German soil,” he said on Saturday. “Our police officers are not the buffer stop for conflicts in third countries.” Deputy AfD federal spokesman Stephan Brandner criticized the fact that the Eritrea Festival was allowed to take place in Germany. “The dictatorship may celebrate itself in Eritrea. Something like that has no place in our country.”
Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser (SPD) tweeted: “I strongly condemn the massive violence and rampage against police officers in Giessen. Thanks to all emergency services! My thoughts are with the injured officers.”
