German state police halt several coronavirus protests

German police broke up several protests against coronavirus restrictions in the eastern state of Saxony on Monday evening, after a key vote underpinning the measures in the regional parliament, reported dpa.

In the town of Bautzen, around 350 people were marching towards the town centre, police said.

They were stopped and officers took down the details of 30 participants, according to information shared by the police on Twitter.

At another gathering in the town, police pepper-sprayed the crowds. One man was taken into custody for ignoring police orders to leave the area.

An unauthorized march was also broken up in Freiberg, where a dpa photographer at the scene estimated that several hundred people had turnout out for the protest.

A march of a similar scale was also halted in the city of Chemnitz shortly after it started.

Police officers surrounded the protesters and began checking their identities in order to file charges.

Under current rules in Saxony, one of Germany's hardest-hit states in the fourth wave of coronavirus infections, gatherings of more than 10 people are banned.

Police have been criticized in recent weeks for turning a blind eye to such protests.

Earlier Monday, the Saxon state parliament in Dresden voted to affirm the severity of the current epidemic, thus creating a legal basis for the current restrictions on public life.

There was a heavy police presence at the parliament and the surrounding area was sealed off.

According to police, about 50 people gathered without permission shortly after the opening of the session. The group was dispersed and misdemeanor proceedings initiated.

By the afternoon, 27 people had been charged with violations of coronavirus rules.