Dresden: Students stand protectively in front of the clinic – and are surrounded

Hundreds of opponents of vaccination meet in Dresden for a “walk” via Telegram. Medical students gather to counter-protest – some are reported.

Dresden – On Thursday (January 13th, 2022) the police in Dresden tried to prevent an illegal corona demonstration with a large contingent. The right-wing extremist “Free Saxony” had called for the unannounced elevator, which was declared as a “walk”, on the Telegram messenger service. The demonstrators wanted to move from the Dresden University Hospital to the city center.

Medical students had gathered in front of the university hospital for a counter-demonstration. Dressed in white coats and with signs such as “Vaccinate instead of scolding” and “No power to the ruthless”, they stood protectively in front of the hospital grounds. They spontaneously organized the counter-protest via Instagram, reports Der Spiegel. The students wanted to set a “silent sign against scientific denial and right-wing agitation”.

At the Corona protest in Dresden: medical students protect themselves in front of the university clinic

However, shortly after the start of the action, some of the counter-demonstrators were surrounded by the police. The accusation: Violation of the Saxon Corona Ordinance and the Assembly Act. The Dresden police have initiated 22 administrative offense proceedings against students who wanted to prevent the Corona protest.

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The Tagesspiegel reports, citing a participant in the student protest, that this was spontaneously registered on site. A communication problem among the police would have led another unit to assume that the protest was an unannounced protest.

Several police officers are said to have disturbed the doctor’s coats, as they allegedly violate the ban on wearing uniforms at demonstrations. However, the police disagree. The ban on uniforms was “out of the question” here. During the student protest campaign in front of the university hospital, the officials took personal details.

Corona protest in Dresden: a participant in the counter-demonstration accuses the police

A student who took part in the counter-demonstration reported on Twitter what happened. “We were calm, had masks on. We were asked by @PolizeiSachsen where we wanted to go. The scoundrels stood by and listened undisturbed,” she writes. She raises allegations against the police: “My friends were herded into a cauldron so that their personal details could be taken. We had to keep walking back and forth because we were not allowed to stand in one place in the clinic for 10 minutes before we were sent away by the police Courage and moral courage are dealt with by those who are supposed to keep the shop running here in 4-5 years,” she writes.

The police also took action against the Corona protest known as a “walk”. According to their own statements, the officials would have prevented a larger elevator. At the university hospital there was initially a larger influx of potential demo participants. The police would have addressed this and prevented a larger elevator. However, several groups were later on the road in the city, the police said. Overall, “clearly” more than 200 administrative offense procedures were initiated for violating the Saxon Corona Emergency Ordinance. There were also three criminal charges for insult and three for resisting law enforcement officials. In the concluding press release from the Saxon police, the action against the medical students is not mentioned.

More than 1000 forces from Saxony, Thuringia and the federal police were in action on Thursday. The focus was on securing the university hospital and the Saxon state parliament. Two water cannons and a Räumpanzer had moved up. In addition, a helicopter circled over Dresden. (lrg/dpa/epd)

List of rubrics: © Sebastian Kahnert/dpa