OVG: Ban on assembly in Cottbus remains in force

Created: 02/11/2022 13:13

A figure of the blind Justitia.

© Sonja Wurtscheid/dpa/symbol image

The two-week ban on unannounced gatherings in Cottbus remains in effect.

The Berlin-Brandenburg Higher Administrative Court (OVG) confirmed the preventive ban on these demonstrations against the Corona measures by the police, as court spokeswoman Christiane Scheerhorn announced on Friday.

To justify their decision, the OVG judges stated that the police had given sufficient reasons to assume that future unregistered gatherings would lead to massive violations of the Corona requirements.

Cottbus - After numerous unannounced demonstrations against the Corona policy with thousands of participants, the police had generally prohibited these gatherings in Cottbus for the period from January 31 to February 13, 2022 with a general decree.

The ban was particularly related to the calls for the "Cottbus Walk".

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According to the announcement, the judges of the Higher Administrative Court explained that the purpose of deliberately failing to register the “Cottbus Walks” was to systematically prevent any cooperation with the assembly authority.

In view of the high risk of infection, a preventive ban is compatible with the freedom of assembly guaranteed in the Basic Law.

The Cottbus Administrative Court overturned the ban on the police on February 4 in the first instance.

In his opinion, the police had not sufficiently justified that there were concrete indications for the assumption that unannounced meetings would take place, which were associated with a serious risk of infection and danger to public safety.

The police had lodged a complaint with the OVG against this decision.

dpa