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Protest convoy in Wellington
Photo: Justin Tang/AP
The police in Canada have arrested leaders of the blockade in the capital Ottawa, which has been going on for around three weeks.
As could be seen on videos published by the demonstrators on Thursday evening (local time) on the Internet, two organizers of the Corona protests were taken into custody by police officers.
The authorities in Wellington, New Zealand, on the other hand, ruled out violent action against the opponents of vaccination camping on the parliamentary grounds.
Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invoked emergency powers on Monday to be able to take stronger action against the protest convoys.
Ottawa's interim police chief Steve Bell gave the protesters an ultimatum on Wednesday, threatening arrests if they didn't evacuate downtown.
On Thursday he significantly increased the police presence in the parliamentary district.
Conspiracy to murder police officers
The truck drivers are demonstrating against the government's corona policy by blocking the capital.
Fearing the threat of arrest, the organizers called on their supporters to come to Ottawa on Thursday.
At the same time, they had confirmed their will to persevere.
At the peak of the nationwide protests so far, the truckers had also blocked several important border crossings to the United States.
Police arrested dozens of protesters earlier this week, including four suspects accused of conspiring to murder police officers at a checkpoint between the Canadian state of Alberta and the US state of Montana.
The authorities had found an arsenal of weapons in their vehicles.
The actions of the truck drivers had started in protest against the vaccination requirement at border crossings, which had been introduced by Canada and the USA in mid-January.
The demonstrations are now generally directed against the corona rules and the government of Prime Minister Trudeau.
The protests have found imitators around the world, including in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland, Israel and New Zealand.
Last week, 120 people were arrested in violent clashes between police and demonstrators in the New Zealand capital Wellington.
Police President Andrew Coster ruled out another attempt to clear the protest camp at Parliament on Friday (local time).
Such an approach carries the risk that there will be injuries, "that the number of participants will escalate and that the largely peaceful protest will turn into violence," he said.
He added: "In our estimation, the only safe option at this point is to continue to rely on de-escalation."
Police threatened to call in the military
Similar to Ottawa, protesters in Wellington have been blocking the streets with cars, trucks and mobile homes since the beginning of last week.
They have erected tents, mobile toilets, food distribution stations and a child care center on the Parliament lawn.
Coster said there were about 800 people in the camp and more than 450 vehicles blocking the streets.
He expects the number of participants to increase again at the weekend.
Police earlier this week threatened to use the military to tow away vehicles.
But she withdrew after the demonstrators asked for reinforcements on the Internet.
Wellington residents have complained of being scolded for wearing masks, business owners complain of losses because of the lockdowns.
An action by the parliamentary administration last weekend also caused criticism.
This had unsuccessfully tried to drive the demonstrators away with the help of songs like "Macarena" on a continuous loop and lawn sprinklers.
till/AFP
