Dresden (dpa/sn) - Several thousand people took to the streets in Dresden on Saturday to demonstrate, among other things, against rising energy costs and the measures taken in the corona pandemic. According to the police, supporters of the "lateral thinking" movement had gathered on Theaterplatz in front of the Semperoper in the afternoon. Under the motto "Peace and Freedom - Demonstration for Human Rights, Democracy, Separation of Powers and Political Liability" they then marched through the city centre. According to the police, the protests were peaceful.
Supporters of the right-wing populist party Freie Sachsen also took part in the demonstrations. The organizers had previously expected 8,000 participants. The police did not provide any information on how many people came to the protests.
Together with the Jusos Dresden, the "Herz instead of Hetze" initiative had called for a counter-demonstration on the Theaterplatz, not far from the Schlossplatz. According to Juso chairman Matthias Lüdt, around 500 people came. The assembly broke up when the demonstrators made their way through the city on Theaterplatz. "Individual counter-demonstrators have planned blockades and protests along the route of the demonstration train," said Lüdt.
