Swiss marchers protest against Trump, break through Davos security cordon

Thursday, 25 January 2018 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

ZURICH/DAVOS (Reuters): Anti-capitalists marched through Swiss cities on Tuesday to protest a planned visit by US President Donald Trump to the World Economic Forum (WEF) and broke through a security cordon in Davos.

Leftists organisers called for the protests under the mottos “Trump Not Welcome” and “Smash WEF!”

Trump is due to speak on Friday at the WEF in the Alpine town of Davos, an annual meeting of global business and political leaders where protests have been banned. About 20 demonstrators broke through security to reach the Davos Congress Centre, holding banners and shouting “Wipe out WEF” before they were peacefully disbanded by police.

“Trump is just one of the other people we disagree with. We’ve been protesting every year now against the World Economic Forum and if Trump comes or not we don’t care. Trump is just, maybe he’s just the best symbol of this world,” protester Alex Hedinger told Reuters TV in Davos. More than 4,000 Swiss soldiers have deployed to guard Davos alongside 1,000 police and a no-fly zone is in place.

Police estimated that there were 2,000 demonstrators in Zurich.