Occupation Zurich police allow barracks squatters to continue until further notice

The Zurich city police are allowing the squatters on the Kasernenwiese to leave until further notice. As long as things remain peaceful, no action will be taken for the time being, they told the Keystone-SDA news agency on Saturday morning.

The squatters have not yet been given a deadline. The group, which calls itself "Kreis 13", announced its intention to remain on the site throughout the weekend.

On Friday evening, the squatters took possession of the barracks meadow. They cordoned off the area with partitions and plastic tarpaulins and set up a concert stage. The police were on site but kept a low profile.

The action was directed against "capitalist urban gentrification". The activists announced in the evening that they had "self-determinedly taken the Kasernenwiese" to show that a different city is possible. Zurich is a contested area, and urban gentrification would "maintain the prevailing power relations with patriarchal and colonial structures".

SDA