Thousands join annual rightwing march
WARSAW: Thousands of people took part in an annual farright march in Warsaw to mark Poland's Independence Day yesterday, defying a ban imposed by city hall due to coronavirus restrictions.
Planned as a drive through the capital's main roads to circumvent the ban, the march spilled into the streets, with police in riot gear using pepper spray to break up sporadic violence along the route.
Warsaw police said on Twitter that several officers had been injured. Footage on social media showed flares being hurled at police.
Marchers carried redandwhite Polish flags amid clouds of smoke from red flares and held up banners that read ``Our civilisation, our rules''.
FarRight politician Robert Winnicki called on protesters to ``rebel in the name of values and national unity''.
``The Left tells you it is offering freedom. What kind of freedom is it? It's freedom to drink, take drugs and have free sex. That's all the freedom they have to offer.''
The crowd surrounding him broke into chants of ``God, honour, fatherland.'' — Reuters