Saxony – Matthias Monroy

Is the suspension of constitutional rights for the whole of society to counter the new corona virus justified? The freedom to assemble without registration or permission under Article 8 of the German Constitution has been replaced since 20 March by a complete ban with the reservation of permission. Health authorities now have the final say on demonstrations or rallies in accordance with the „SARS-CoV-2 containment regulations“.

For one month, most of the Federal States have prohibited protests in any form, including bicycle demonstrations and autocorsos. The public medical officers also did not care if registrants promised to respect distance rules and to wear face masks. Last week, the highest German court clarified on 15 April that this is not proportionate. „A virus called control: The suspension of constitutional rights in Germany“ weiterlesen

The German riot police replace their armoured „Special Wagons“ with a new model. A tender for 55 cars, which cost around 1.1 million euros each, will end in the summer

Since 1984, federal and state police forces have been using the armoured „Special Wagon 4“ („SW4“), which is mostly painted in dark or poisonous green and is mainly used in large-scale police operations. It is based on the chassis of the well-known „Unimog“ from Mercedes and was built by the former Thyssen group. The „SW4“ are usually found together with water cannons, two vehicles are assigned to each water cannon squadron. They are equipped with clearing blades for this purpose.

The governing coalition now wants to modernize the fleet and replace it with a „Special Wagon 5“. Details have recently been provided by the federal government in answers to parliamentary questions. Currently, it is planned to purchase 45 „SW5“ for the state riot police forces and 10 for the federal one. Like their predecessors, most of them will be assigned to the „water cannon special car units“. The old armoured vehicles will afterwards be scrapped. „New tanks for the German police“ weiterlesen