Many detained at women's demonstration in Zurich

Police violence at the March 8 feminist demonstration in Zurich has reminded many participants of "Turkish conditions" and numerous people were arrested.

During the demonstration organized by the "March 8 Unite" alliance in Zurich on Saturday, numerous women were brutally arrested. The reason for the police violence was apparently the pandemic regulations, gatherings of 15 people in public space are currently allowed in Switzerland.

The demonstrators on Ni-Una-Menos Square (Helvetia Square) were surrounded from the beginning by martially equipped police forces and water cannons. After a short time, the police began to pull activists out of the crowd and arrest them. In doing so, they proceeded both arbitrarily and violently. One person was hit several times in the head while being pushed to the ground. Women were dragged across the floor and handcuffed behind their backs. Among those arrested was Şehnaz Kaya of the Kurdish Women's Council of Zurich.

Attempts to start the demonstration were stopped with pepper spray. The Kurdish women's movement repeatedly chanted "Jin Jiyan Azadî! [Woman Life Freedom!]" After several attempts, the demonstrators managed to break out of the encirclement. They moved through the Langstrassen neighborhood, past a freshly occupied feminist squat. At the Bäckeranlage, the demonstration broke up amid shouts of slogans.