More than a million Germans have signed a petition launched by police calling for a ban on fireworks on New Year’s Eve, after celebrations which once again caused property damage, injuries and political controversy.
Initiated by the Berlin division of the police union Gewerkschaft der Polizei (GdP), the petition for “a national ban on fireworks” had collected more than 1.4 million signatures online on Monday. It was handed over to the Ministry of the Interior in the morning.
Police officers were “targeted with all kinds of fireworks, freely available in stores. This must end,” believes the union, which is calling for “a solution that comes into force quickly so that we no longer talk about dozens of injuries next year.”
Five people died accidentally on New Year’s Eve in Germany while lighting powerful fireworks and around 400 people were arrested in Berlin. In total, 30 law enforcement officers were injured in Berlin alone, including one seriously, who required surgery. And at the national level, “there are more than 100 injured” among the police, said Andreas Rosskopf, the president of the GdP, to the “Rheinische Post” after the submission of the petition.
The Germans celebrate the New Year with a particularly intense use of fireworks set off by individuals, some illegal or homemade, fueling a debate each year on the banning of the most powerful pyrotechnic devices.
Berlin police announced on Saturday the arrest of a 23-year-old man suspected of having thrown a pyrotechnic rocket towards an apartment window in the Neukölln district, which then burst into flames. The video of this Palestinian influencer, arrested at the airport “while trying to leave the country”, according to the police, sparked many outraged comments on social networks.
In Schöneberg, another district of the capital, the explosion of a pyrotechnic device damaged the openings of around forty homes that were now uninhabitable and caused panic among residents.
Less than two months before the legislative elections in Germany, the government of Social Democrat Olaf Scholz said it was not in favor of a general ban on pyrotechnic devices, with the Minister of the Interior favoring more “sanctions”. “hard” and specific prohibited areas.
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