Hundreds protest against German lockdowns

Hundreds have joined demonstrations in the German cities of Stuttgart and Berlin to protest the ongoing restrictions on public life sparked by the coronavirus.

Organisers say several thousand people joined what they described as a “non-partisan” weekly protest in the southwest city of Stuttgart on Saturday (local time).

Protest initiator Michael Ballweg claimed 5000 people joined the demonstration, up from a few hundred the week before.

Stuttgart police would not estimate the size of the crowd, but said the gathering went off without incident and that demonstrators largely kept the required distance from one another.

READ ALSO Covid-19 pandemic has affected our plans – Okowa

Mr Ballweg has said his “Querdenken” movement, a name which translates roughly as “lateral thinking,” is calling for the restoration of fundamental rights such as freedom of assembly and freedom of religion.