UPDATE - Protest Against COVID-19 Restrictions Ends In Berlin, Over 300 Detained

(Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 30th August, 2020) Updates with new details from Sputnik reporter in para 4)

BERLIN, August 30 (Sputnik) - A major demonstration against coronavirus restrictions in Berlin has ended, but some of the protesters are still out in the streets, a Sputnik correspondent reports.

A spokeswoman for the Berlin police told Sputnik that around 18,000 people participated in the Saturday protest. Later, State Minister of the Interior of Berlin Andreas Geisel said that an estimated 35,000 - 38,000 protesters took part in the demonstration in Germany's capital.

According to a Sputnik correspondent, protesters started to disperse at around 18:00 local time on Saturday (16:00 GMT). Police had asked the demonstrators to finish the protest by around 20:30. By 22:30 (20:30 GMT) on Saturday, there were still small groups of protesters left in some areas, particularly near the Victory Column and on Street of 17 June, according to a Sputnik correspondent.

Just after midnight on Sunday, police blocked the streets leading up to The Great Star (Grosser Stern) square, asking the protesters sitting on the pavement and the steps of the Victory Column to leave. No detentions were being made, according to a Sputnik correspondent. Earlier, police asked the 200-300 protesters who had decided to stay and "camp out" in the area to leave as the Saturday protest action had officially ended.

According to Berlin's interior minister Geisel, seven police officers were injured during clashes with a group of protesters who had gathered near the Russian embassy. Around 200 people were detained near the embassy building. A total of more than 300 arrests were made during the Saturday protest.

The organizers of the protest, the Querdenken 711 initiative group, had initially planned a march in central Berlin that was going to end near the Victory Column. However, police did not allow protesters to march because coronavirus safety requirements were not met.

At the beginning of August, a major protest against coronavirus restrictions was organized by Stuttgart's Querdenken 711 initiative group, attracting around 20,000 demonstrators. The protest was stopped short by police because the participants of the mass rally refused to follow the necessary health precautions.