Source: Frapp
Clashes avoided in Villars-sur-Glâne – a commune of 12,000 people North-West of Geneva
Between 150 and 200 people from the Eritrean community gathered this Saturday to demonstrate in a muscular manner.
The Cormanon district was the center of a demonstration this Saturday afternoon in Villars-sur-Glâne. Surrounded by a large police force, between 150 and 200 people from the Eritrean community showed their anger at an event organized within the walls of the school and authorized by the municipality.
Some demonstrators, the vast majority of whom came from all over Switzerland, were equipped with wooden or plastic bars and stones. They temporarily blocked the Cormanon roundabout, before being chased away by the police and then gathering in the meadow adjoining the school.
Fundraising involved
According to people interviewed on site, this was to oppose a fundraiser organized this Saturday in Cormanon, which would benefit the president in place, Isaias Afwerki, described by our interlocutors as a dictator.
“What they are doing in this room is propaganda, financial support for the president,” said Amanuel, a young Eritrean who came to express his anger. The protesters interviewed spoke of a wave of migration prior to the country’s independence in 1993, which would support the current regime without understanding its dictatorial nature.
The police heavily mobilized
The police did not wish to comment on the event while the intervention was underway, but responded to us late in the afternoon. According to Bernard Horner, adjutant of the cantonal police, the police intervention was launched at the end of the morning, when the organizer of the meeting planned in Cormanon alerted to the imminent arrival of numerous opponents who had come to disrupt this meeting in a violent manner.
Police cordons were formed to prevent any direct contact between the two camps. The demonstrators were finally gathered in front of the Nuithonie theater. Surrounded by police, they were able to leave the scene one by one peacefully.
Clashes avoided
The people present at the meeting, also from the Eritrean community, were able to be evacuated on their own without a hitch several hours after the start of the intervention.
The police say they have taken the identities of 150 and 200 people who came to demonstrate and announce that findings of offenses will give rise to denunciations.
Source: Freiburg press release
Disturbance of public order during a gathering of people from Eritrea in Villars-sur-Glâne
FEBRUARY 17, 2024 – 5:53 P.M
- Media release
On Saturday morning, the cantonal police were informed of a large gathering of people of Eritrean origin in Villars-sur-Glâne. They feared the arrival of compatriots who were against their peaceful assembly. In coordination with the responsible authorities, a large police presence had to be deployed as a preventive measure. There were no injuries.
On Saturday morning around 8 a.m., the cantonal police operations and alarm center was informed that a gathering of people was taking place in Villars-sur-Glâne. On site, the police found that over twenty people belonging to an Eritrean community were present. They had rented a space for their peaceful gathering, which did not require a demonstration permit. They feared that violent compatriots who were against their gathering would come.
Several police patrols were deployed as a preventive measure in the Cormanon area of Villars-sur-Glâne. Cars with license plates from different cantons were stopped and their occupants of Eritrean origin were checked. Dangerous objects (sticks, stones…) were discovered in the interior of some vehicles and subsequently confiscated by the police. In view of the situation, in coordination with the various relevant authorities, a large preventive police force of over 100 law enforcement officers was alerted and deployed on site to avoid any confrontations.
At the event, the opponents, around 200 people, carried sticks, ax handles and stones with them. The use of pepper spray was necessary to keep some of the troublemakers at bay. There were no injuries to anyone taking part in the meeting or to the police. So far, no damage to surrounding buildings or infrastructure has been detected.
The opponents of the event were arrested and identified by the police. The perpetrators of the identified violations will be reported to the responsible authority. A comprehensive report on the incidents will be prepared for the relevant authorities.
Martin Plaut 