Police have cleared an Occupy Frankfurt camp after ten months of demos outside the European Central Bank headquarters.
Barricades were set up around the camp as police asked people to leave voluntarily, forcibly removing those who sat down instead.The protesters have been next to the European Central Bank since last October, demanding that authorities to put an end to social and economic inequality.The camp had an infrastructure system that included recycling bins and portable toilets, with demonstrators’ numbers’ dwindling in recent months, despite 40-60 of them staying at the site.However, police say most of those people were homeless, with the camp having little to do with the actual protest.The break-up of the camp follows a court ruling on the matter, which barred the Occupy protesters from remaining on park territory owned by the city.Instead, demonstrations were allowed on the adjacent public square next to the ECB, but tents were banned.Demonstrators are outraged over the officers’ actions, describing them as “totally over the top.”"The evacuation violates the constitution and the right to assemble. We will take this to a higher court," 24-year-old protester Maike Wolf told AP.The demonstrators have been given two weeks to appeal the ruling.