A FIVE hour battle with May Day rioters in Berlin left 237 police injured, authorities say.
From correspondents in Berlin, Germany
May 03, 2009 02:33am
A FIVE hour battle with May Day rioters in Berlin left 237 police injured, authorities say.
Riot police battled 700 stone-throwing left-wing militants in Berlin for more than five hours in May Day clashes that stretched into the early pre-dawn hours yesterday.
The attackers also hurled petrol bombs and poured flammable liquids on police in the city's worst Labour Day violence in four years.
Most of the 237 police injured suffer bruises and contusions while 14 suffered serious wounds.
A total of 289 demonstrators were taken into detention, where they face arrest on charges of bodily harm and rioting.
"The climate has worsened and that's casting its shadow over us," said Berlin's Interior Minister Ehrhart Koerting.
"The violence was more severe than in the past. But for the most part they were not motivated by politics. They only wanted violence."
Rioting in Berlin, and in Germany's second city Hamburg, came after a long day of mostly peaceful protests - despite scattered violence - across Germany as many vented their anger on the Labour Day holiday over the financial crisis.
The attacks began at dusk and came from a group of about 700 militants, who also threw slabs of pavement pulled from sidewalks at police in riot gear. They burned cars, and smashed bank and shop windows.
"Throwing slabs of pavement at police has nothing to do with any sort of general social unrest," Koerting told a news conference even though he acknowledged the crisis was behind a worsening in the public's general mood.
Authorities had braced for violence, with tension running high over the economic crisis and rising unemployment.
More than 5800 riot police from across Germany were deployed in Berlin.
Police also used tear gas and pepper spray against the militants, who marched under the slogan "Capitalism means war and crisis."
They also chanted anti-capitalism slogans.
Mr Koerting said he was disappointed since annual violence on the Labour Day holiday had been on the wane over the past three years - ever since police shifted tactics from battling rioters to a policy of de-escalation.
"The number of violent criminals has clearly risen this year," he said.
"It's a setback. Violence has reached new heights. The attacks started earlier and were more intense. The average age of attackers also rose. Most were in their mid-20s."
May Day is traditionally marked by union rallies in many European countries but the global economic downturn led to significantly larger crowds this year. Union leaders estimated 484,000 took part in 400 rallies around Germany.
From correspondents in Berlin, Germany
May 03, 2009 02:33am
A FIVE hour battle with May Day rioters in Berlin left 237 police injured, authorities say.
Riot police battled 700 stone-throwing left-wing militants in Berlin for more than five hours in May Day clashes that stretched into the early pre-dawn hours yesterday.
The attackers also hurled petrol bombs and poured flammable liquids on police in the city's worst Labour Day violence in four years.
Most of the 237 police injured suffer bruises and contusions while 14 suffered serious wounds.
A total of 289 demonstrators were taken into detention, where they face arrest on charges of bodily harm and rioting.
"The climate has worsened and that's casting its shadow over us," said Berlin's Interior Minister Ehrhart Koerting.
"The violence was more severe than in the past. But for the most part they were not motivated by politics. They only wanted violence."
Rioting in Berlin, and in Germany's second city Hamburg, came after a long day of mostly peaceful protests - despite scattered violence - across Germany as many vented their anger on the Labour Day holiday over the financial crisis.
The attacks began at dusk and came from a group of about 700 militants, who also threw slabs of pavement pulled from sidewalks at police in riot gear. They burned cars, and smashed bank and shop windows.
"Throwing slabs of pavement at police has nothing to do with any sort of general social unrest," Koerting told a news conference even though he acknowledged the crisis was behind a worsening in the public's general mood.
Authorities had braced for violence, with tension running high over the economic crisis and rising unemployment.
More than 5800 riot police from across Germany were deployed in Berlin.
Police also used tear gas and pepper spray against the militants, who marched under the slogan "Capitalism means war and crisis."
They also chanted anti-capitalism slogans.
Mr Koerting said he was disappointed since annual violence on the Labour Day holiday had been on the wane over the past three years - ever since police shifted tactics from battling rioters to a policy of de-escalation.
"The number of violent criminals has clearly risen this year," he said.
"It's a setback. Violence has reached new heights. The attacks started earlier and were more intense. The average age of attackers also rose. Most were in their mid-20s."
May Day is traditionally marked by union rallies in many European countries but the global economic downturn led to significantly larger crowds this year. Union leaders estimated 484,000 took part in 400 rallies around Germany.
