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Germany: Thousands of people expected for "anti-mask" rallies

2020-10-03T09:29:42.057Z


30,000 people are expected. A huge human chain, which the organizers hope will reach Austria and Switzerland, must be organized.


Thousands of opponents to wearing masks and restrictive measures against the pandemic are expected in Constance (southwest of Germany) for a weekend of protests under high police protection in the face of fears of overflows.

Read also: Does the mask reduce the severity of Covid-19 cases?

Highly anticipated time of this Saturday, October 3: a huge human chain must be organized on the shores of Lake Constance on the initiative of "

free thinkers

", a motley gathering of opponents of measures linked to the Covid-19 pandemic which have already held two demonstrations with tens of thousands of people in Berlin during the summer.

Their goal is to bring together enough people to reach Austria and Switzerland, with the shores of Lake Constance located in three countries.

Read also: Bans and masks: why Italy is doing better today than the rest of Europe

Saturday, 17 parades or rallies are expected in Constance.

Sunday, 12 rallies are also announced in the city center even if, as the City has underlined, a majority of them do not intervene on the initiative of "

anti-masks

" but intend to express their solidarity in these times of a global pandemic.

The police are expecting a total of some 30,000 people and have planned "

a significant deployment

" of the

police to

face the risk of possible overflows.

Anti-vaccine activists, conspirators and far-right supporters

These parades come at the height of an upsurge in infections in Germany, a country that has been rather spared by the new coronavirus so far.

On Saturday the number of new infections in 24 hours was above the 2,500 mark, the level of April.

Chancellor Angela Merkel, who says she is very concerned about this increase, announced on Tuesday new restrictions, particularly on private parties, with fines for violators who do not respect certain rules.

Read also: Covid-19: what to know about the treatment that Donald Trump is taking

The Municipality of Constance banned demonstrators from waving distinctive signs of the Nazi regime or

German “

Reich flags

” in remembrance of the Empire that vanished after World War I, as they did in Berlin.

During this last rally at the end of August, several hundred demonstrators had forced security barriers to climb the steps of the Reichstag, seat of the Chamber of Deputies (Bundestag), marking a new stage in the radicalization of the movement.

These demonstrations bring together a motley crowd made up of anti-vaccine activists, conspirators, citizens genuinely concerned about the restrictions linked to Covid-19 but also, and increasingly according to the authorities, far-right supporters.

"See also -

Covid-19: a risk of having to" drastically reduce social interactions in Paris ", according to Olivier Véran

Source: lefigaro

All news articles on 2020-10-03

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