Australia: ten arrests after anti-containment rallies
Clash between law enforcement and an anti-containment protester in Melbourne, Australia, September 5, 2020. William West / AFP
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Several dozen people were arrested on Saturday, September 5 in Australia, while they were demonstrating in several cities across the country to obtain the end of containment measures.
These rallies were organized at the behest of conspiratorial groups on the Internet.
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In
Melbourne
, Australia, several hundred demonstrators gathered in the late morning, Saturday, September 5, chanting “
Freedom!
"And"
Scams!
".
They feel that the Covid-19 pandemic has been grossly exaggerated, or that it simply
does not exist
.
A total of 14 people were arrested and 160 others were fined for non-compliance with health instructions.
Due to Covid-19, gatherings are in fact prohibited in Melbourne.
Proponents of conspiracy theories go wild
The demonstrators had gathered near a memorial of the Second World War, which did not prevent some from executing a Nazi salute towards the police, saying "
Heil Dan
".
Daniel Andrews, the Prime Minister of
the State of Victoria
, called the protests "selfish" because they could call into question the end of the lockdown.
Other rallies take place in Sydney and further north in Byron Bay: 14 people have been arrested, giving rise to sometimes chaotic scenes.
In recent days, the police had already been criticized for having arrested people accused of encouraging these protests on social networks.
The video of a pregnant woman handcuffed at home in front of her children has been viewed several million times.
Holy bread for far-right politicians and conspiratorial theories, who call for protests despite health orders, and who claim that a police state is being established in Victoria state .
► To read also
: Australia: faced with the resurgence of the coronavirus, Melbourne toughens its containment
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