Clashes between far-left activists and police left dozens injured this weekend in Leipzig (East), incidents denounced on Sunday June 4 by Interior Minister Nancy Faeser. Protesters blocked streets, set fires on public roads and threw projectiles at security forces, in response to prison sentences imposed by German justice this week against four extreme activists LEFT.
Around 50 police officers were injured in the protests, which began on Friday evening, including three officers who were declared "unfit for duty", according to a statement from the Leipzig police. The police made around 30 arrests and more than 50 people were remanded in custody before being released. "This senseless violence by far-left anarchists and rioters is unjustifiable," the minister said in a statement. Hundreds of people took part in these demonstrations after far-left activists called for a day of action on Saturday in Leipzig.
On Wednesday, a court in Dresden sentenced a Leipzig student, Lina E., and three other far-left activists to multi-year prison terms. The group was convicted of attacks on neo-Nazis and suspected far-right activists between 2018 and 2020. Since her arrest in 2020, Lina E. has become a symbol, with the slogan "Free Lina" regularly appearing in protests far left, according to German media.
