BERLIN (AA) – Far-right and anti-fascist groups clashed in eastern German city of Chemnitz Saturday over alleged killing of a man by migrants.
More than 4,500 far-right protestors attended the anti-immigration rally organized by the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party and the Pro Chemnitz group, a week after a 35-year-old German citizen was allegedly killed by two migrants after a street row.
The protestors, carrying banners that demanded immediate deportation of illegal migrants, chanted slogans “Merkel must go”, “Resistance” and “We are the people”.
Leftist and anti-fascist groups organized a counter demonstration to protest the far-right violence in Chemnitz, as mobs were randomly attacking foreign-looking people on the streets in recent days.
The counter-protest drew at least 3,500 people, according to the organizers.
Authorities maintained a heavy police presence and tried to keep rival groups apart in a bid to avoid violence.
In Kandel, dueling protests took place on Saturday, ahead of a court verdict in the trial of a refugee who allegedly killed his teenage girlfriend.
Fifteen-year-old Mia V. was stabbed to death with a kitchen knife outside of a local drugstore in Kandel on December 27 last year. Her ex-boyfriend, an Afghan refugee, was accused of murdering Mia after she broke up with him. Both the teen and her parents went to the police to report his threatening behavior.
A state court in the city of Landau is due to deliver a verdict on the murder trial on Monday.
The case sparked months of demonstrations in Kandel that saw thousands of anti-migrant and counter-demonstrators descend upon the town with a population of less than 9,000.
However, the clashes between right-wing extremists and leftist groups left at least 11 people injured.
Additional report from Deutsche Welle
[Map of Germany by CIA/PUBLIC DOMAIN]
Morris MukelabaiSeptember 10, 2018
if these people are not respecting the owners of the country by killing them, its high time things change for the better and go back to their countries. Britain immigration laws are very loud ,clear and they have not allowed this kind of nonsense to happen.