In Germany it’s the tradition that both Labour Day celebrations and right-wing demonstrations take place on 1.May, a national holiday.

During a demonstration of the far-right Pro Chemnitz movement in the city of Chemnitz, a journalist covering the demonstration, and taking pictures of it, was threatened by protesters. Instead of defending the journalist’s right to cover the demonstration, the police forced him to delete the pictures and afterwards expelled him from the demonstration site.

The journalist works for the Chemnitz Freie Presse (Free Press) local newspaper, as well. The newspaper and the trade union, the Saxonian Journalist’s Association (DJV) complained about how the police handled the situation. Via social media, the police revealed a statement saying that it was a “misunderstanding”. Pro Chemnitz is a right wing organisation which is under observation by the Saxonian authorities, suspected of acting against the German Consitution.

As the ECPMF’s Concept of the Enemy report reveals, in 2018, about a third of 26 reported attacks against journalists in Germany took place during one wave of protests in the city of Chemnitz.