Police in Switzerland are intensifying their response to protests against COVID restrictions and vaccine passports recently imposed by the government.
Demonstrations have been growing across the country, including weekly marches in the capital city of Bern, since a draconian 'COVID certificate' mandate was announced in early September.
Swiss police are employing increasingly aggressive tactics and weapons to disperse crowds and discourage largely peaceful resistance.
Citizens reacted in shock as footage of officers brutally attacking a lone man on Thursday night in Bern went viral on social media.
WTF @PoliceBern ? Verhältnismässig? @RetoNause @SicherheitBern pic.twitter.com/7qEEDfiniQ
— Pierre Moret (@pierrech) October 7, 2021
A different angle of the arrest shows the man calmly walking up to a line of officers, seemingly to address them in a civil manner, before they violently set upon him and slam him to the pavement.
Hier ist die Verhaftung aus einem anderen Winkel sichtbar. Der Typ läuft am Strassenrand auf die Polizei zu. Ruhig, wie es mir scheint. Als er ankommt, schmeissen sie ihn auf den Boden. Ich bin jetzt noch mehr bestürzt als zuvor. pic.twitter.com/awlvc4cmEG
— Joyce Küng (@realjoycekueng) October 8, 2021
A spokesman for the Bern cantonal police claimed the reaction was warranted because the man had his hands in his pockets.
The victim is reportedly an active member of the medical community. He has already filed a legal complaint against Bern cantonal police.
Zurich cantonal councilor Claudio Schmid blasted the brutality, contrasting it against the manner in which left-wing demonstrations are effectively welcomed in the same city.
Diese Szene ist aus B E R N. Nicht aus Osteuropa, nicht aus Russland, nicht aus China und auch nicht aus Hongkong. Die Hauptstadt der Schweiz. Ein Ort, wo Klima-Aktivisten und sonstige linksradikale Spinner durch die Behörden verhätschelt werden.
— Claudio Schmid (@Schmid8182) October 8, 2021
Sie zerstören mein Land. pic.twitter.com/el2O13xewu
"This scene is from B E R N," Schmid wrote. "Not from Eastern Europe, not from Russia, not from China and not from Hong Kong either. The capital of Switzerland. A place where climate activists and other radical left weirdos are pampered by the authorities."
"You are destroying my country."
Police also deployed armored vehicles and fired water cannons and rubber bullets at demonstrators.
#Bern0710 ...wenn eine Polizei langsam Spaß daran findet, auf Menschen zu schießen, die friedlich für die Freiheit und Verfassung ihres Landes einstehen!
— Cobra 🇨🇭🍀 original & ungespritzt (@cobra_kaiman) October 7, 2021
👎@RetoNause @SicherheitBern pic.twitter.com/99XzbfrpyP
Miren! Así andamos en Suiza ‼️
— Dan Ariwonnoto (@danyptitsuisse) October 7, 2021
Así la policía bajo manipulación política anda reprimiendo una manifestación pacífica
Que por tanto, era una vez en el tiempo pasado, que éste derecho de libre manifestación fue puesto adentro de nuestra constitución !#Suiza!
despiértense !!! https://t.co/8W8uTZCYaV
Mit Gummigeschoss und Wasserwerfer gegen FRIEDLICHE Menschen - gegen das EIGENE Volk
— Elisa S. Suter 🌸 (@AletheiaHappy) October 8, 2021
Wo bleibt der Aufschrei der Gutmenschen?
Habt ihr alle Herz und Verstand verloren?
Wie kann man glauben, dass es um Gesundheit geht?
Es ist ekelhaft, traurig, würdelos😓
🎥 @TruthAJustice pic.twitter.com/ESZY2Yl9q7
— Pierre Moret (@pierrech) October 7, 2021
"Bad pictures from the demonstration in Bern yesterday. A man is lying on the ground and is being held down by several police officers and beaten in the back. More police officers stand around indifferent," the administrator of an open forum for Swiss issues wrote about the events of Thursday night.
"Such images are unworthy of a democratic Switzerland. It doesn't matter whether you agree with the protesters' statements or not. It doesn't matter whether the demonstration was officially approved or not. In Switzerland we have a constitutional right to freedom of expression and freedom of demonstration. Both mean that you do not need official permission to express yourself freely and to express your opinion publicly. In a democracy, the people decide whether they want to express themselves in the way they want to and the people are us."
COVID passports are now mandatory to enter many indoor spaces in Switzerland, including restaurants, bars, gyms, and venues.
(PHOTO: Twitter Screenshot)