In spite of video evidence online, police operatives in Berlin, Germany, have flatly rejected the criticism by the United Nations special rapporteur on torture of their heavy-handed response to anti-lockdown rallies that saw hundreds arrested.

The protesters recently gathered in government unauthorised demonstrations against the government’s Covid-19 measures, in contravention of the regime’s restrictions on such gatherings under the so-called Infection Protection Act. They heeded no warnings and attacked officers, the Berlin state-police said in a statement on Monday, warranting their ’violent’ enforcement measures. Yet, video and photograph evidence clearly show this statement to be untrue.

The statement was issued in response to the views expressed in the media last week by Nils Melzer, the UN special rapporteur on torture. Melzer had said he would be requesting an official statement from the government on police operatives actions during the massive anti-lockdown and anti-vaccination rally in early August.

‘There have been videos that are worrying,’ Melzer told the DPA news agency. ’The evidence is strong enough [to suspect] that human rights violations may have been committed.’

He requested some additional information about one horrifying video that surfaced on international social media showing a police agent brutally grabbing an elderly woman by the neck and throwing her to the ground. ’She could have died,’ Melzer said. The video included footage of two police agents casually leaning over the disabled pensioner directing pepper spray directly into the face of the stricken woman.

However, the Berlin police apparently believed there was nothing extraordinary about the footage that drew the attention of the UN official, and have stated that ’violence’ was virtually a part of their mandate.

‘Direct enforcement is violence. Violence harms. Violence hurts. Violence looks violent,’ a Berlin police spokesperson, Thilo Cablitz, told DPA on Sunday. ’Direct enforcement is still a part of our legal system, even with all those images,’ he added, referring to the videos of police brutality that were shared on social networks and via various media outlets.

The anti-lockdown protest in Berlin on August 1 became chaotic when state operatives tried to forcefully disperse the crowds. Some 5,000 people took part and around 600 were arrested.

Footage shared on the internet showed many instances of police violence, including officers kicking and shoving protesters, punching their faces, pepper-spraying them, and grabbing them and throwing them to the ground.  VIDEO Think your friends would be interested? Share this story!