Coronavirus: police and protesters clash as thousands march against Covid-19 curbs in Berlin
- Germany has reported more than 3.9 million coronavirus cases and is facing a fourth wave of infections
- Four officers were injured and about 50 people were detained, some for assaulting officers, police said
Police tussled with protesters as thousands of people marched through Berlin on Saturday chanting slogans and waving banners against Covid-19 restrictions.
Some demonstrators tried to get past barricades to the government district around the Reichstag parliament building and clashed with officers, police said. Four officers were injured, the Berliner Zeitung newspaper reported.
About 50 people were detained, some for assaulting officers, the force said.
The protesters, few of whom wore masks, waved banners marked with the messages “I have my own opinion” and “Covid-84” in a reference to George Orwell’s book 1984 about a totalitarian state.
The marches came a month before a federal election. The leading candidates vying to replace Chancellor Angela Merkel have pledged there will be no return to the strict lockdowns of last year and earlier this year.