Germany: 228 arrests after an Eritrean festival
In Germany, an Eritrean festival ended in riots in the city of Stuttgart.Scuffles broke out on Saturday between opponents of the Eritrean regime, pro-government activists and German police, resulting in 228 people being arrested.
The people involved, who are believed to be close to the opposition to the Eritrean government, are accused of assaulting police officers when they tried to disrupt an event organised by an Eritrean association close to the authoritarian regime in this north-east African country.
26 police officers, four participants in the event and two members of the opposition were injured in the incidents.
Nearly 300 members of the police force mobilised found themselves in a «buffer zone» of an «Eritrean conflict that occurred with massive violence» described the city’s deputy police chief, Carsten Höfle, who added that «neither the extent nor the intensity of this violence was foreseeable»
The gathering of Eritrean associations was attended by between 80 and 90 participants close to the regime in Asmara. Opposite, several hundred opponents refused to demonstrate in another part of the city, designated by the police. Scuffles ensued during which police officers were attacked with wooden slats, nails, metal rods, bottles and other stones, according to the authorities.
Eritrea officially became a state in May 1993, two years after throwing off Ethiopian rule.
Since then, the country has been ruled by independence hero Issaias Afeworki, who has established a one-party regime without elections, where any opposition is severely repressed.
