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Highlights
- Over 4,000 people took to the streets in Melbourne and Sydney to protest the extension of the covid lockdown.
- Police arrested some 200 protestors in Melbourne as they attacked the police personnel trying to stop them. Nine cops were injured.
- In similar protests, around 47 protesters were also arrested in Sydney, New South Wales, the epicentre of delta-variant.
Australian police on Sunday arrested scores of people in Melbourne and Sydney as they took to the streets to protest the lockdowns over the delta virus threat.
The sloganeering protesters in Melbourne turned violent as police tried to stop them. The protesters also played music and distributed flyers. Some 200 people were arrested while nine cops were injured in the protest, one of the violent demonstrations in the city in decades.
Over 4,000 people had gathered for the protest in Melbourne. The protesters were not wearing any facemask and threw projectiles and hit police officers.
Police used pepper spray and canisters to control them. Nineteen people were booked while others were in preventive custody.
The arrested people were fined AS$5452, while some of them faced assault charges. Meanwhile, eight of nine injured police were discharged from the hospital. The Melbourne administration has condemned the protesters for breaking the lockdown rules.
"Many protestors were peaceful, but many came to spread violence. Their behaviour was so hostile and violent that police had to break canisters," the Sydney Morning Herald quoted a police spokesperson as saying. "It was the most violent protest in the last 20 years. We are disgusted with the kind of behaviour of people," he added.
Forty-eight people were fined AS$5500 for unlawful assembly in Caulfield North. The number will grow further as police are still interviewing attendees. Many participants were kids who were warned and let go, the report added.
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Source: Pixabay
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Protests in Sydney
In Sydney, protestors gathered at various places to oppose a lockdown extension. The city has been in a lockdown since late June. The police arrested 47 people for breaking the covid rules and fined over 246 people. Police stopped the road traffic to prevent people from gathering at the protest sites. According to a report, over 38,000 vehicles on the way to Sydney were stopped, and 137 drivers were fined. One man, who attacked a police officer, was arrested. The officer suffered neck and head injuries and was hospitalized.
The placard wielding protesters were also seen at the NSW-Queensland border. Some of the posters read 'Open The Border' and 'I was born free'.
In New South Wales, a total of 825 new covid infections were recorded over the past day, while the capital Sydney was the epicentre of the fresh outbreak. The authorities have announced a month-long extension of the lockdown to prevent the spread of the virus.
The health authorities said the virus has been spreading rapidly across NSW and neighbouring New Zeeland. NSW reported three deaths on Saturday. Also, 516 people were hospitalized, and 85 of them were in the intensive care unit. Australia has recorded 43,000 covid cases, and 978 people have died so far. Meanwhile, only 30 percent of people above 16 years have been vaccinated.
Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, also saw lockdown protest, but it was peaceful.
