Category Archives: Protest

Protests grow across Muslim world against French president Emmanuel Macron – video report

Posted on by

Demonstrations are growing across the Muslim world against the French president Emmanuel Macron and his perceived attacks on Islam and the prophet Muhammad.

In Bangladesh’s capital, Dhaka, about 40,000 people were involved in a demonstration organised by the country’s largest Islamist party, while protests took place in Pakistan, Palestine, Iran and Afghanistan.

French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo republished cartoons of Muhammad in September, before the trial of 14 people accused of involvement in a terrorist attack against the publication’s offices in 2015 for publishing the same caricatures.

Macron has defended the publication, pledged to fight ‘Islamist separatists’ and said his country ‘would not give up cartoons’

Continue reading...

Philadelphia protesters take to streets after police killing of black man

Posted on by
  • Walter Wallace, 27, shot ‘several times’ by officers
  • Police in riot gear disperse demonstrators

Hundreds took to the streets of Philadelphia on Monday night, to protest the shooting by police of Walter Wallace, a 27-year-old black man who officers said had a knife.

Related: America's protest crackdown: five months after George Floyd, hundreds face trials and prison

Continue reading...

Belarus riot police burst into apartment looking for protesters – video

Posted on by

Video shows riot police in Minsk bursting into an apartment in the city searching for protesters who had been seeking refuge after officers used stun grenades at a rally against the regime of Alexander Lukashenko, who continues to hold on to power despite two months of mass protests since he declared victory in the presidential election in August.

The footage, filmed on Sunday and later posted to social media, shows a policeman using a baton to beat a man who was draped with the pre-Soviet red-and-white flag, the symbol adopted by the opposition. Police detained at least three other men, while several others were sheltering on the upper floors of the building, a witness said. 

Officials in Belarus detained more than 500 people at nationwide anti-government protests on Sunday, including 160 in Minsk, the interior ministry said on Monday

Continue reading...

Chileans vote by huge majority to replace Pinochet-era constitution – video report

Posted on by

Chileans celebrated on the streets after voting overwhelmingly to tear up the country's constitution, imposed four decades ago under the military dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet. 

In Santiago's Plaza Italia, the focus of massive protests last year that led to the poll, fireworks rose above a crowd of tens of thousands of people singing in unison as the word 'rebirth' was beamed on to a tower above. Exit polls showed that 78.24% of people had voted to approve a rewrite, while 21.76% rejected the change. Many have expressed hopes that new guiding principles will temper an unabashedly capitalist ethos with guarantees of more equal rights in healthcare, pensions and education

Continue reading...

Chile: millions head to polls in referendum on constitutional reform

Posted on by

Abolishing Pinochet-era constitution was key demand of last year’s protests

Chilean streets filled on Sunday for the first time since the start of the coronavirus outbreak as millions of people turned out to vote on whether to get rid of the country’s Pinochet-era constitution in favour of a fresh charter drafted by citizens.

A new constitution was a key demand of fierce anti-government protests that erupted last year over inequality and elitism in one of Latin America’s most advanced economies, and have simmered ever since.

Continue reading...

Belarus protests: nationwide strike looms after ‘people’s ultimatum’ rally

Posted on by

Opposition leader calls for action on Monday as Lukashenko defies demand from 100,000 marchers in Minsk to step down

Belarusian riot police launched another violent crackdown in Minsk on Sunday evening, throwing stun grenades into crowds of peaceful protesters, chasing people through courtyards and making arrests as they attempted to curtail the 11th consecutive Sunday of protest in the country.

At least 100,000 people marched through the centre of the Belarusian capital earlier in the day to give what they called a “people’s ultimatum” to Alexander Lukashenko: step down, or face a nationwide strike on Monday that could cripple the economy.

Continue reading...

Fighting tyranny with milk tea: the young rebels joining forces in Asia

Posted on by

Activists in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Thailand have formed a novel international alliance to defy authoritarian rule

The language, the demands and the backdrop were different, but the protests across central Bangkok last week would have looked familiar to anyone who followed the mass demonstrations that roiled Hong Kong for a year from June 2019.

Crowds of young protesters, dressed in black and wearing hard hats, poured through the streets to locations announced at the last minute on social media. As the police closed in and the protesters prepared for confrontation, hand gestures and human chains ensured supplies including protective masks and water reached the front lines.

Continue reading...

Teargas deployed at anti-lockdown protest in Naples on day of new curfew – video report

Posted on by

Angry over a newly imposed 11pm to 5am regional curfew, demonstrators in the southern Italian city of Naples threw stones and bottles at police on Friday evening. The authorities responded with teargas. The stricter measures are an attempt to curb the spread of coronavirus, which has killed more than 37,000 people in Italy since the start of the pandemic

Continue reading...

Thousands join Poland protests against strict abortion laws

Posted on by

Protests follow ruling that law allowing abortion of malformed foetuses is incompatible with constitution

Thousands of people marched in cities across Poland on Saturday in the third straight day of protests against a near-total ban on abortion, with some promising further action in the coming days.

The protesters were reacting to Thursday’s ruling by Poland’s highest court that an existing law allowing the abortion of malformed foetuses was incompatible with the constitution.

Continue reading...

Poland braces for more protests over abortion ban ruling

Posted on by

Demonstrations planned amid anger over court decision banning almost all abortions

Protests are planned for various Polish cities this weekend amid public anger over a ruling banning almost all abortion in the country.

Poland already has some of the most draconian abortion laws in Europe, and on Thursday a constitutional tribunal ruled that one of the few exceptions to the ban – cases of severe foetal impairment – should also be made illegal. These cases, which hardline Catholic anti-abortion activists have called “eugenic abortion”, made up almost all of the small number of abortions performed legally in Poland.

Continue reading...

‘They just acted like animals’: anger after protesters shot by security forces in Nigeria

Posted on by

Demonstrators were braced for a confrontation but hail of bullets still left them – and the world – reeling

In the minutes before the shooting began, hundreds of mostly young protesters at a toll gate in Lagos, were sitting on the hot ground on a Tuesday evening, waving Nigerian flags, singing the national anthem and defying the government.

Protesters had braced themselves, prepared for when security forces would surely arrive, said 21-year-old Shola Abdul, a kitchen assistant, to enforce a 24-hour curfew across the state that effectively banned mass protests against police brutality.

Continue reading...

Nigeria: security forces in Lagos open fire on protesters fighting against police brutality – video

Posted on by

Nigerian security forces have opened fire on hundreds of protesters in Lagos, as rallies against police brutality continued in defiance of a 24-hour curfew. Footage shared on social media shows shots being fired in the Lekki district of Africa's largest city. Demonstrators continued their protest against the notorious Sars police unit, now dissolved but long-accused of extra-judicial killings, torture and extortion. The government has adopted measures including judicial panels to investigate abuses and compensation for victims, and officials have called for protesters to suspend the demonstrations to give the government time to make good on its pledges

Continue reading...

Nigeria protests: security forces open fire on protesters in Lagos

Posted on by

Crackdown as rallies against police brutality continue in defiance of government curfew

Nigerian security forces have opened fire on hundreds of protesters in Lagos, as rallies against police brutality continued in defiance of a 24-hour curfew imposed by the government earlier in the day.

Graphic scenes posted on social media showed protesters fleeing as security forces, including soldiers, shot live rounds towards the crowds.

Continue reading...

Churches burned amid tense anniversary protests in Chile – video

Posted on by

There were tense scenes in the streets of Santiago as demonstrators clashed with police on the first anniversary of mass protests over inequality that left more than 30 dead and thousands injured. The rallies were largely peaceful early on, but were later marred by the incidents of violence and confrontations with police. Protesters threw fireballs and rocks in the direction of police, with officers responding with teargas and water cannon. Two churches were set alight including San Francisco de Borja, used regularly by the Carabineros police force for institutional ceremonies. Demonstrators are also calling for Chileans to vote in favour of a new constitution in a referendum next weekend

Continue reading...

Thousands of Thais defy crackdown on protests in Bangkok

Posted on by

Police use of water cannon fires up more demonstrators on streets of capital and other cities

Tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets of Bangkok and other Thai cities on Saturday, defying a crackdown against a pro-democracy movement that has challenged both the king and the prime minister.

Youth-led rallies have spread across Thailand over recent months, with protesters making public demands for reform of the country’s monarchy, which is protected by a harsh lese-majesty law and which, until recently, was considered untouchable. They have also called for changes to the constitution, and the resignation of the prime minister, Prayuth Chan-ocha, who first came to power during the 2014 coup.

Continue reading...

Pressure grows on Zimbabwe to free detained student leader

Posted on by

International groups join calls for the release of Takudzwa Ngadziore, held for protesting against Mnangagwa’s regime

A campaign focusing on the detention of 22-year-old Takudzwa Ngadziore, who has been held for 30 days in a remand prison, is gaining momentum in Zimbabwe, putting pressure on President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government to release the student.

Ngadziore, president of the Zimbabwe National Students Union (Zinasu), was arrested and jailed last month for protesting outside a car hire company, Impala Car Rental. The company has been under pressure from campaigners to release details of the alleged use of one of their vehicles in the suspected abduction of another student activist, Tawanda Muchehiwa.

Continue reading...

Thai pro-democracy protesters confront royal visit to Bangkok

Posted on by

People call for reforms to monarchy and resignation of prime minister during king’s visit

Thai pro-democracy protesters chanted “my taxes” and raised a symbolic three-finger salute at a passing royal motorcade in a historic show of defiance against the country’s monarchy.

Thousands of people took to the streets of Bangkok on Wednesday to call for democratic reforms, including curbs on the power and wealth of the monarchy. Royalist supporters mounted counterprotests, saying they had assembled to welcome King Maha Vajiralongkorn, who is attending a ceremony in Bangkok to mark the end of Buddhist Lent.

Continue reading...

On the ground with Penguin, the Thai protest leader risking jail – video

Posted on by

The Guardian follows Parit Chiwarak, known as Penguin, one of Thailand's prominent protest leaders as he helps organise one of the biggest anti-government rallies in years. He and many other young people are risking prison to demand a significant democratic overhaul: they want the power and wealth of the monarchy curbed. Parit said he already faced 18 charges, including sedition, for his involvement in previous demonstrations. More rallies are expected in Bangkok on Wednesday 

Continue reading...

#EndSars: why Nigerians are protesting against police brutality – video explainer

Posted on by

After days of fierce protests against police brutality, Nigeria's government announced the dissolution of the infamous "Special Anti-Robbery Squad", commonly called Sars, a police unit plagued with allegations of extrajudicial killings, theft and abuse. 

The Guardian's west Africa correspondent, Emmanuel Akinwotu, explains what sparked the #EndSars demonstrations across the country, how the movement trended internationally on social media, and why demonstrators do not trust promises of reform

Continue reading...