ABOVE: An Istanbul courthouse devolves into chaos, as riot police clash with lawyers following May Day rallies
Clashes erupted inside an Istanbul courthouse on Monday between police officers and a group of lawyers who wanted to defend those detained after a May Day rally, a local news agency reported.
Dogan News Agency (DHA) footage showed dozens of policemen forcibly pushing lawyers out of the courthouse doors using their shields.
Many lawyers were resisting and some were seen falling on the ground.
The reason for the clashes is unclear.
Police and May Day demonstrators had on Friday clashed as crowds, determined to defy a government ban, tried to march to the city’s main square.
Police deployed a water cannon and tear gas to prevent demonstrators from reaching Taksim – a symbolic centre of protests in which 34 people were killed on May 1, 1977.
The Istanbul governorate announced on its website that 203 people had been detained on Friday.
Comments