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Bern protestors charged with rioting

Protestors and police have clashed in Bern’s old city during an unauthorised demonstration against police “repression”.

Several hundred people gathered for the protest on Saturday, which had been organised on the internet.

Canton Bern police said they intervened when protestors started damaging cars and spraying graffiti.

According to police, the demonstrators threw steel balls and bottles at officers, who responded with irritant gas and rubber bullets. The protestors said the police started the clashes, encircling them.

Around 180 people were rounded up and taken to the police station and were charged with rioting, before being released.

The protestors had come from different Swiss cantons, France and Germany. The youngest was 15.

No one was believed to be injured.

Among the items seized were catapults, knives and pepper spray.

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SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR