There will be a lot of demonstrations this year in Thuringia. Not all participants always behave peacefully. Targets are also police officers.
Erfurt (dpa/th) - According to the Ministry of the Interior, police officers have repeatedly been injured during demonstrations in Thuringia this year. By the end of October alone, 34 officers had suffered injuries, the Interior Ministry said in response to a request from CDU member of parliament Raymond Walk. In 16 cases, demonstrations resulted in attacks or resistance against officials.
Interior Minister Georg Maier (CDU) recently put the number of demonstrations and protests against the Corona policy, against price increases or the Russia sanctions in the state parliament at a total of around 2750 since the beginning of the year. About 80 percent of them were not registered. The police's job is to de-escalate stress and panic, but also to prevent public order from being disturbed. The police often had to deal with difficult situations, says Maier.
Walk referred to the high burden on the police with an average of nine meetings a day in Thuringia, which had to be accompanied. There were a third of all injured officials by the end of October. According to the Interior Ministry, a total of 103 police officers were injured on duty.
Walk expressed the hope that the fundamental right to freedom of demonstration and assembly will be peacefully exercised in the future. Meetings would have to be registered and the requirements of the security authorities would have to be observed. Walk: "But our police officers are also citizens and have the right to physical integrity, to respect and appreciation - just like everyone who attends the meeting."
