Women arrested

After protest camp eviction: demonstration in front of police building

Following the eviction of the pro-Palestine protest camp on the campus of the University of Vienna, demonstrators gathered in front of the Roßauer Lände police detention center on Thursday.

(Bild: Andi Schiel)

After the pro-Palestine protest camp on the campus of the University of Vienna was evacuated on Thursday night, around 50 people gathered for a spontaneous demonstration at the Roßauer Lände police detention center in the morning. The activists demanded the release of three women who were provisionally arrested during the eviction and have been in police custody ever since.

Traffic on the Lände was repeatedly blocked by the group on Thursday. The assembly dispersed in the course of the afternoon. The emergency services carried out a follow-up security operation until around 2 p.m., it was reported. There were no incidents during the protest, which began at around 10 am.

The three women were taken into custody for identification purposes - and still refused to disclose their personal details. Whether they were actually in the detention center or another official facility was not revealed.

Activists sit down on the road
The activists repeatedly blocked traffic by sitting down on the lanes, but also cleared them again, according to police spokesman Mattias Schuster. There was no threat of major traffic jams on the public holiday anyway. The police were represented by several dozen officers, including a riot unit and an operations unit, to secure the site.

Around 100 people had set up their tents at the beginning of the week following a "pro-Palestine" demonstration at the campus in the old AKH in the Alsergrund district. A counter-demonstration took place on Wednesday afternoon.

The protest camp at the Altes AKH had been in place since Monday and was finally evacuated on Thursday night.

(Bild: instagram.com/palaestinasolidaritaet.at)

On Thursday night, the security authorities ordered the dispersal of the camp after increasing solidarity with the goals of Hamas was registered and the event was therefore no longer covered by the right to freedom of expression. In addition, the protest had been classified as a threat to public safety.