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Police stop hooligan demo over violence fears

DPA/The Local
DPA/The Local - [email protected]
Police stop hooligan demo over violence fears
Hooligans face off with police in Cologne. Photo: DPA

Hanover police said on Friday they would ban a demonstration against fundamentalist Islam which had been registered for November 15th by a hooligan group.

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Police chief in the Lower Saxony capital Volker Kluwe said that they had informed the demonstration's organizer in writing after he cancelled a face-to-face meeting with officers.

Kluwe said he was worried that allowing the protest to go ahead could lead to an outbreak of violence like the one two weeks ago in Cologne on October 26th, which saw thousands of hooligans and police battling in the streets.

The march was organized by Hooligans Against Salafists (HoGeSa), which brought together previously warring groups of hard-drinking thugs in an outpouring of anti-Islamic sentiment.

The violence left 49 police officers injured and the centre of Cologne locked down for hours.

The organizer of the planned November 15th march, an unnamed person from North Rhine-Westphalia, now has until the beginning of next week to contest the police decision.

Police said on Thursday that the man, who had spoken at the Cologne march, had been charged with hate speech after sharing material glorifying the Holocaust online.

Kluwe said that his men “would be prepared” for the possibility that hooligans would turn up in the city ready to brawl despite the ban.

Organizers had given notice of similar demonstrations to take place in Berlin on November 9th and 15th and in Hamburg on the 15th.

But police forbade the Berlin plans and the hooligans themselves called off the Hamburg march.

SEE ALSO: Far-right hooligans battle police in Cologne

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