30 Jan 2021
Police in Austria have banned 15 of 17 planned demonstrations against government coronavirus lockdown measures, including a major protest in Vienna this weekend.
The police stated that the protests could be a danger to health and that social distancing measures could not be expected in protests that could see thousands of participants attend.
Of the 15 protests banned by the police, the largest was set to take place at Vienna’s Maria-Theresien-Platz and would have seen a speech by populist Freedom Party (FPÖ) MP and former Austrian Interior Minister Herbert Kickl,
Kronen Zeitungreports.
FPÖ General Secretary Michael Schnedlitz called the ban on the demonstration a “scandal that is motivated purely by party politics,” and the party stated that it gave “full backing” those the organisers of the demonstration.