Thousands in Europe Attend Anti-Nuclear Rallies

Thousands of demonstrators attended anti-nuclear rallies in Europe on Saturday, the eve of the first anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant disaster.

Protests turned violent in Switzerland, where police broke up an illegal march, and in the Netherlands as police swinging batons dispersed club-wielding protesters outside an aluminum plant.

A protest organizer, Peter Zuber, said 18 people were hurt when Swiss police fired tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse thousands of protesters who broke away from the official march route in Bern. Demonstrators smashed bank windows, tossed firecrackers in the air and damaged a fence around a construction site, he said.

A Bern police spokesman declined to confirm the injury reports but said “several ambulances” were sent to the scene.

The disturbances broke out after demonstrators left an anti-nuclear rally that drew at least 10,000 people, according to estimates from police and protest leaders.

Police Charge Protesters

In the Netherlands, about 200 demonstrators with clubs tried to blockade the entrance to the Pechiney aluminum firm near the southern town of Borssele. Police mounted a baton charge, and at least one police officer and one demonstrator were injured. No arrests were reported.

Police said the protesters, who came from a rally at a nuclear plant in Borssele, apparently targeted the aluminum firm because of its heavy use of electricity produced by nuclear power.

At Borssele, authorities let hundreds of people conduct a weekend blockade of the plant’s 10 gates.

In West Germany, demonstrators staged rallies and marches in Berlin, Bonn, Hamburg, Munich and Stuttgart.

Police said about 5,000 protesters marched through West Berlin’s downtown area, wearing gas masks and carrying mock Geiger counters in a peaceful demonstration.

Campaign Posters Burned

In Hamburg, a handful of protesters set fire to campaign posters for conservative parties in coming local elections. No arrests were reported.

The crowd in Hamburg, estimated by police at 6,000, waved banners reading “Remember Chernobyl” and “We Have Not Rid Ourselves of Chernobyl.”

Thousands of British protesters paraded through London, led by Glenys Kinnock, wife of Labor Party leader Neil Kinnock. They observed a minute of silence as a siren sounded, symbolizing a nuclear warning.

Organizers estimated the crowd at just over 100,000, but Scotland Yard put it at 48,000.