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Frankfurt Police Crackdown on Austerity Protests Has Familiar Feeling

© AP Photo / Michael ProbstPolice chase demonstrators after they threw stones Wednesday, March 18, 2015 in Frankfurt, Germany
Police chase demonstrators after they threw stones Wednesday, March 18, 2015 in Frankfurt, Germany - Sputnik International
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The German police response to anti-austerity protesters in Frankfurt Wednesday mirrors the "excessive police force" used during the Occupy Democracy protests in the UK capital, the legal adviser of Occupy London movement told Sputnik.

Policemen detain members of 'Blockupy' anti-capitalist movement near the European Central Bank (ECB) building before the official opening of its new headquarters in Frankfurt March 18, 2015 - Sputnik International
Germany’s Bundestag to Discuss Frankfurt Blockupy Anti-Austerity Riots
EDINBURGH (Sputnik), Mark Hirst On Wednesday, Frankfurt police used water cannon, tear gas and baton charges to break up Blockupy protesters who had gathered to oppose the opening of an opulent $1 billion European Central Bank headquarters in the city. Organizers say 130 protesters were injured by police and over 350 others arrested.

"The Police response in Frankfurt mirrors a clampdown by the London Mayor of Occupy Democracy," Matthew Varnham said.

"These time-limited monthly protests at Parliament Square, in the run-up to the general election, have been met with excessive police force and the erection of […] fencing as a tactic, now itself subject to Judicial Review," Varnham added.

Anti-capitalist protesters - Sputnik International
Frankfurt Rallies Unlikely to Cause Review of Austerity Policies– SSP

The legal adviser told Sputnik that any police response to protest should be necessary, proportionate and with justification in law, otherwise it poses a threat to fundamental right to free expression.

"It is unfortunate that the police response to Blockupy was to use tear gas and water cannon as I understand that the vast majority of those who attended the protest were peaceful," Varnham added.

Occupy London is concerned that similar deployment of water cannons against protesters in the United Kingdom, which would be a first on mainland Britain, is only a matter of time, the legal adviser added. Conservative Lord Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, recently purchased three second-hand water cannon from German police.

Protest against new European Central Bank office in Frankfurt - Sputnik International
Police Stirred Up Tensions Prior to Protests in Frankfurt - Blockupy

"Modern day protest often highlights inconvenient truths, and people are angry. Police should not be used as puppets of the State to silence dissent," Varnham added.

Northern Ireland is the only part of Britain where water cannons have been used against protesters.

The first truck mounted water cannon appeared in Germany in the 1930s using converted fire engines. The newest German Federal Police design can carry 10,000 liters and shoot water at a rate of 20 liters per second, enough to knock down protesters and rip clothing from their bodies.

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