Police arrest 76 in Berlin squat-clearing operation

Seventy-six people were arrested during the clearing of a 30-year-old squat encampment in Berlin, police said on Saturday, adding that 46 officers had been injured in the process, reported dpa.

Two of the officers had to go off duty after clashes at the Koepi squat, according to a police statement.

Clashes broke out at the site, where activists were living in trailers close to where the Berlin Wall once stood.

The eviction came after the property's owner sued for the area to be cleared.

Members of Berlin's left-wing anarchist scene demonstrated after the eviction. Some 40 police officers were injured during riots that accompanied the march, the police said.

Officers initiated criminal investigations for serious breaches of the peace, resisting officers and assault, attempted dangerous bodily harm and damage to property.

Several of Berlin's leading politicians condemned the riots and violence, including state interior minister Andreas Geisel.

"What we experienced yesterday is not a political stance, but blind destructiveness," he said on Saturday, according to the administration.

"The state will not give way to threats of violence. The rule of law is precious and must always prevail."