Five detained at protest in Swiss town where AfD leader Weidel lives
Five people were temporarily detained on the fringes of a demonstration Saturday in the Swiss town where Alice Weidel, the co-chair of Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), lives with her family, police said.
The authorized protest in Einsiedeln in the canton of Schwyz was directed against a political shift to the right.
Counter-demonstrators also turned up after calls on social media.
There were provocations and scuffles, police reported, but officers prevented the situation from escalating.
The five people who were detained had been carrying prohibited items or had not followed police instructions, according to reports.
Hundreds of demonstrators on both sides
The police, who were on duty with a large contingent, spoke of around 250 participants in the demonstration against the far-right and several hundred counter-demonstrators.
“We are fighting for a world with diversity and without fascism,’ said a speaker from “Bündnis gegen Rechts” (Alliance Against the Right) at a rally. One poster read “Weidel out.”
The counter-demonstrators booed and insulted the participants, as could be seen in videos. Some chanted support slogans like “AfD, AfD.”
There was no indication that Alice Weidel was present. Weidel’s Swiss wife lives in the village with their two children, whom the couple are raising together.
The AfD politician says she spends part of her time there. Weidel has confirmed that she also has a residence in the German town of Überlingen on Lake Constance.
Einsiedeln, around 45 kilometres south of Zurich, has a population of around 10,000. The town is famous for its Benedictine abbey, which is more than 1,000 years old.
