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Police report dozens of anti-lockdown demonstrators

Demonstrators with Swiss flag
Hundreds of people protested the lockdown for the second weekend in a row. Keystone

Swiss police have issued reports against dozens of people who took part in demonstrations in four Swiss cities in defiance of a lockdown ban on more than five people gathering in public places.

Hundreds of people rallied in Bern and Zurich on Saturday, with around 100 demonstrating against the lockdown in Basel and 80 in St Gallen. All of the protests dispersed peacefully as police decided against forcefully breaking them up.

In Bern, two groups of protestors ignored police warnings that they were in violations of social distancing rules that have been in place since mid-March. Reports have been made against “several dozen” people, a police spokesperson told the Swiss news agency Keystone/SDA.

In St Gallen, police took down the details of 14 people who had been involved in the demonstration in the eastern Swiss city. Another 18 people were added to list later in the day as the rally moved to the train station.

It was the second weekend in a row that numbers of people have defied social distancing rules to protest against the lockdown.

Last weekend, police broke up several demonstrations in Swiss cities, including Bern and Zurich. The protests were against the social and economic restrictions that have been in place in Switzerland since mid-March.

The police action was questioned by civil rights group Amnesty International.

On Monday, some schools, shops and restaurants will be allowed to re-open, but large gatherings and many public buildings will remain closed for more weeks.

There have been more than 30,000 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Switzerland and over 1,800 deaths.

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SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR