Mon, Oct 30th 2023
Police officers were attacked with stones and bottles at the “Antifascist Evening Walk” in Bern on Saturday. One policeman was injured by a stone thrown at his head.
This was announced by the Bern cantonal police on Sunday at the request of the Keystone-SDA news agency. The policeman was wearing a helmet. He did not need to seek medical attention.
Several hundred people had joined the procession through Bern, including activists from Basel and Zurich. Many participants were masked. Fireworks and firecrackers were set off, windows were broken, cars were vandalised and walls were spray-painted. The amount of damage is not yet known.
Police officers in full body armour shielded buildings such as the municipal theatre and accompanied the procession in several patrol cars. According to the police, it was not possible to remove suspected criminals from the procession. The risk of numerous injuries was too great, said media spokesperson Lena Zurbuchen. This would also have endangered bystanders.
By “flanking the procession more closely” during the evening, the police at least succeeded in preventing major damage to property. Investigations into the offences committed are now underway.
With the “evening walk”, Antifa wanted to reaffirm their resistance against the state, capital and fascism, according to calls on the internet. The Alliance Against the Right Bern drew a positive balance: 800 people had “taken the streets of Bern in a self-determined way”, it said in a communiqué on Saturday evening.
“We were loud and militant, despite the massive police presence.” A clear stance was taken against “the strengthening right-wing, extreme right-wing and fascist forces in Switzerland, but also everywhere else”. The procession dispersed at around 9pm at the Reitschule.
In the past, antifa marches in Bern had repeatedly led to violence, damage to property and skirmishes with the police. Last year, over a thousand people took part in the procession.
“The violent extremist left remains a huge problem,” said Reto Nause (centre), director of security for the city of Bern, to the Bernese Tamedia newspapers. He called for more effective measures to control violent circles. Otherwise, situations like the one on Saturday would occur again and again.
©Keystone/SDA
English 
German 
French 
Spanish 
Arabic