Berlin: Strong demo against state oppression

It is well known by now that on Monday afternoon around 140 riot police unlawfully raided Liebig 34 and Liebig 14, two house projects on Liebigstrasse, Friedrichshain. They were searching for “evidence” in connection with an arrests made on Sunday evening, evidence which they never requested to be able to look for and evidence which they were inexplicably unable to find. When the police were in the houses they were unable to present a warrant for the searches, refused to explain their purpose in the houses to the occupants, were violent and aggressive to the occupants, forced residents of Liebig 34 to stay confined in their rooms and threw bricks down the chimney of Liebig 14. The houses decided collectively that they would have to react quickly to this severe form of state oppression.

To show that we won’t stand for their actions and intimidation, It was quickly announced that there would be a demonstration starting from Besarinplatz at 9pm. At first there was a small gathering of people, but after the demo was registered and the front line was assembled it was clear that there were at least 800 people. It was clear that the people were agitated to march against the actions of the police and the state. When the police were happy that their bureaucratic methods of control and crowd surveillance could be exercised the demonstration was allowed to proceed down Rigaerstrasse. The crowd chanted loudly showing a great unity and strength, although the direction was controlled by a police flank on each side of the demo line.

When the demonstration queued on Proskauerstrasse, waiting to cross Frankfurter Allee there were so many people that from the middle of the masses one could barely hear the distant loud chants of the front and the back. As we went on to Niederbamimstrasse one could sense that the crowd felt more in control of the demonstration than the police.


The tension between the crowd and the police was rising as we entered Simon-Dach Strasse. The police lead the mass down Krossenerstrasse, where all of a sudden the demonstration simultaneously halted and reached breaking point. The people broke the police line and dissipated all over Friedrichshain. The police then struggled to regain control of the crowd. The people all returned back to the corners of Rigaerstrasse and Liebigstrasse, the police came back attempting to intimidate us.actually the cops started withdrawing because the official end of the demo had been declared. Yet we refused to be moved, we refused to be scared. Screaming “Rigaerstrasse, Liebig bleibt [stays], one struggle, one fight.” As the police drove off in to the night.

We refuse to be intimidated by their tactics. With arrests made, houses raided and people controlled we must not be afraid to confront them. As the right-wing press labels us terrorists, we must be a positive force striving to save our free spaces and creating a dominant force against their oppression. People all over Berlin are feeling the pressure of state dominance, from the student protests, to workers struggles and the new campaign of hate against the left. We must unite our struggles and strive to create a world free from exploitation.

Liebig 34 and Liebig 14 forverer