Officers fired teargas at a group of protestors who defied a cantonal ban on demonstrations in Altdorf on Saturday afternoon, as other Swiss cities remained relatively calm despite social media calls for large protests this weekend. Around 500 opponents of government measures to fight the Covid-19 pandemic began gathering before noon around a monument of William Tell on a town square in Altdorf, the capital of canton Uri. Some left after police, made up of officers from various cantonal forces dressed in riot gear, asked them repeatedly to disperse. Others returned, dressed in black and wearing white masks, holding placards reading, “We cry for liberty”. Police then fired teargas at those demonstrators who resisted additional demands for them to leave. There had been calls for large demonstrations on social media for several Swiss towns and cities this weekend, including Zurich, Winterthur and St Gallen, the latter the site of violent clashes between police and protestors on...
