The rally was scheduled to take place on Friday at the town hall market. However, a Hamburg law prevents this. Now the demonstrators are taking to the streets elsewhere.
Thousands of people want to come to the Hanseatic city on Friday under the motto “Hamburg stands up – against right-wing extremism and neo-Nazi networks”. However, the rally cannot take place on the town hall market as planned and has to be postponed, as the police confirmed on Thursday at the request of t-online. NDR first reported.
The reason for this is a short-term AfD parliamentary group meeting in the town hall. The meeting brings into effect the Hamburg ban district law, which prohibits meetings and demonstrations within a radius of 350 meters from the town hall, a spokeswoman for the Hamburg citizenship told the German Press Agency on Thursday. The Banned District Act serves to protect the citizens’ ability to work and independence.
The rally will therefore take place on the nearby Jungfernstieg. The person who registered the demonstration proactively approached the police and was cooperative, said the spokesman. “The AfD exploits democratic instruments to undermine basic rights. It shows once again that it despises democracy,” said the organizers of the rally.
Lots of support from all sides for the demo against the right
The organizers are now expecting around 10,000 people to want to take part in the rally. The demonstration was originally planned for 2,000 people. The police assume there are more than 4,000 people, the spokesman explained.
The broad alliance calling for the rally includes representatives of trade unions, churches, business associations and migrant organizations. Many celebrities, including Hamburg’s honorary citizens Udo Lindenberg and John Neumeier, have also pledged their support.
The President of FC St. Pauli, Oke Göttlich, as well as representatives of the Hamburg Sports Association also want to take part. The organized fans of Hamburger SV and Altona 93 have also called for demonstrations against the right.
Mayor Peter Tschentscher is one of the speakers at the demo
The rally is scheduled to begin at 3:30 p.m. Among the speakers are Hamburg’s mayor Peter Tschentscher (SPD) and mayor Carola Veit (SPD). The incumbent council chairwoman of the Protestant Church, Kirsten Fehrs, is also expected to speak.
The rally was co-organized by Kazim Abaci, board member of the Entrepreneurs Without Borders association and SPD politician. He warned of the danger posed by the AfD and other right-wing extremists: “Our parliamentary democracy is in danger. It is high time that the middle of our society finally wakes up and stands up,” he told NDR.
The SPD, the Greens and the Left support the alliance’s call
The rally in Hamburg is one of many that have taken place or will take place across Germany in recent days. The occasion is the meeting of AfD politicians and prominent right-wing extremists, at which plans to denaturalize people with a migration history were discussed.
The SPD parliamentary group calls on all Hamburg residents to take part in the demonstration, and the Greens and the Left also support the alliance’s call.
In Cologne on Tuesday evening, more than 30,000 people took to the streets to protest against the AfD. They shouted slogans like “The whole of Cologne hates the AfD.”
2024-01-18 12:52:06
#Demonstration #Friday #postponed #AfD
