East German Police Detain 120 Protesters
EAST BERLIN — Security police detained about 120 people as they left a Protestant church after protesting the results of East Germany’s local elections, church officials said Thursday.
Uniformed and plainclothes officers dragged the civil rights activists to three waiting buses and drove them away Wednesday night, the church aides and witnesses said.
Police told church leaders those detained will be freed once their names have been taken but it was not immediately clear whether this had happened.
About 300 civil rights activists attended the protest meeting in East Berlin’s Sophia Church, where they alleged there had been widespread fraud during last month’s elections.
According to official results, only 1.15% of the electorate voted against Communist Party-approved candidates in the May 7 elections. Activists say the figure was much higher.
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