Multiple cities in the south-western German state of Baden-Wuerttemberg have banned the so-called walks held by anti-vaxxers and opponents of pandemic restrictions following another large-scale event in Munich on Wednesday evening.
Five towns and cities in Baden-Wuerttemberg, including the state capital Stuttgart, announced municipal bans on "walks" on Thursday, in an attempt to stop vaccine sceptics and adherents of the so-called Querdenken (Lateral Thinking) movement from getting around Covid precautions such as social distancing and mask wearing.
Crailsheim, Schwaebisch Hall, Bad Mergentheim and Bruchsal also issued bans on Thursday, while Mannheim and Karslruhe had bans in place already.
The authorities in Stuttgart justified the ban by saying that previous "walks" had deliberately violated the right of assembly as well as the obligation to wear masks and to keep a distance.
It also cited recent marches elsewhere in Germany that showed the Querdenken movement's actions were increasingly aggressive and violent.
In Munich, where such a ban has not yet been introduced, those who joined a protest walk against coronavirus restrictions late on Wednesday could face fines of up to 3,000 euros (3,400 dollars), according to local officials.
Notices for offenders, who protested in spite of a ban on unregistered gatherings, are being finalized by police and will be processed by the district administrative board (KVR) after hearings are conducted with those concerned, a KVR spokesperson said on Thursday.
Wednesday evening's demonstration had in fact been given official approval for up to 5,000 participants, but the organizers cancelled the protest at the last minute because they were not prepared to implement the court-ordered Covid precautions for the event.
Several thousand people nevertheless marched through the city centre, sometimes in groups of more than 100, according to police. Many protesters were stopped at the scene and their details taken down by police officers.
The police said that around 700 misdemeanour notices were issued and that two people had criminal charges made against them.
Police later resorted to physically dispersing the crowd, deploying batons in around 10 cases.
