According to the police, there were violent incidents and “massive attacks” on emergency services at a controversial Eritrea festival in Gießen. Several police officers were injured, said a police spokesman for the German Press Agency in Giessen.
The police spoke of stone and bottle throwing, fights, lit smoke bombs, tearing down of fences and attempts to break through police barriers. The officers used pepper spray and batons. A water cannon was ready. According to the police, at least 60 people were taken into custody, before about 50 places had already been issued. It was initially unclear whether there were injuries and how many.
More than 1000 police officers on duty
Due to the dynamic situation, more police officers were called to Gießen in addition to the more than 1,000 officers who were already on duty, the spokesman said. It is about several hundred forces from all Hessian police headquarters. Loudspeaker squads try to influence people who appear at barriers and may want to try to break through them. A police helicopter and a drone were also deployed.
There had already been riots at the festival last year. Opponents of the event see a problematic proximity to the government of Eritrea. The organizers were expecting around 2,500 visitors on Saturday and Sunday. A ban on the festival by the city was overturned by the Giessen Administrative Court and this decision was upheld by the Hessian Administrative Court.
The police reported that groups of people of different strengths had been noticed by riots in different places in Gießen since around 5:30 a.m. on Saturday. She advised driving around the city area because “due to the constant relocation of emergency services” in the city there are severe traffic problems. The police were on duty with more than 1000 forces in several places in the city.
threats to drivers
At the Hessenhallen – the event site – a large group of probably around 100 people tore down the fence, it said. According to the police, there was a dispute with a large number of participants at the Neustädter Tor. There are also said to have been threats to drivers. Cars were damaged. Objects were thrown from a bridge.
Since Eritrea’s independence from Ethiopia around 30 years ago, President Isayas Afewerki has ruled the country with an interim government. Afewerki has recently come under international criticism because, according to several UN reports, the Eritrean army committed serious human rights violations alongside the Ethiopian central government in the Ethiopian civil war until November 2022. In addition, many civil liberties are largely restricted in the country.
