German city calmer after clashes ahead of banned leftist demonstration

The East German city of Leipzig was standing by on Saturday to see if a banned leftist demonstration would still take place in some form, following the previous evening’s riots.

Hooded people attacked police officers in Leipzig on Friday evening in what was initially a peaceful gathering.

Stones and fireworks flew at the officers from a crowd of several hundred, according to a dpa reporter at the scene.

Barricades made of rubbish bins and burnt-out construction site barriers at the site of the riots in the Connewitz district.

Police used tear gas and, according to their own statements, were “pelted with objects” from the rooftops.

On social media, there had been a call from the left for a large rally to show solidarity with a student convicted of carrying out attacks against right-wing extremists.

This call came despite the court’s ban on a so-called “Day X” demonstration on Saturday, with the court citing a likelihood of violence.

The police had prepared a large-scale security deployment in anticipation of the event.

According to the police, “crimes were still being committed” during the night, even after the barricades were extinguished around midnight (10pm GMT).

According to police, several officers were lightly injured and one was taken to hospital for treatment.

By early morning, three provisional arrests had been made for aggravated breach of public peace.

The situation in the city has since calmed down and the police presence has dwindled again.

The 28-year-old student, referred to only as Lina E under German privacy laws, and three co-defendants were sentenced to several years in prison on Wednesday for assaulting alleged or actual neo-Nazis.

Lina E was provisionally released after the announcement of the verdict because she had been in custody for two and a half years. The court also cited health reasons and media coverage as reasons for her release.