Eight Anti-Lockdown Protesters Arrested In New Zealand - Reports

Sumaira FH Published August 18, 2021 | 01:53 PM

New Zealand police have arrested eight people who went out to protest after the lockdown entered into force, with former Public Party leader Billy Te Kahika detained at a rally in Auckland, New Zealand's RNZ radio reported on Wednesday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 18th August, 2021) New Zealand police have arrested eight people who went out to protest after the lockdown entered into force, with former Public Party leader Billy Te Kahika detained at a rally in Auckland, New Zealand's RNZ radio reported on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, the country's health ministry introduced a three-day total lockdown after detecting one case of COVID-19 caused by the Delta variant.

About 100 people without masks took to the streets to protest against the COVID-19 restrictions next to the national broadcaster TVNZ buildings in Auckland. Protests were also registered in the cities of Nelson and Tauranga.

The police have not commented on Te Kahika's arrest, but he was described as a conspiracy theorist during the RNZ broadcast.

The protesters were dispersed, with four arrested in Auckland and four more in Tauranga after they refused to comply with restrictions following repeated verbal warnings by the police. A decision on charges has not yet been made.

The police also had to turn back people traveling out of town to holiday homes and urged everyone to stay home, saying that "the restrictions are there for a reason."

To date, New Zealand has confirmed a total of 2,570 COVID-19 cases since the beginning of the pandemic, and 26 related fatalities.