Zurich police break up riot of young protesters

January 26, 1981

Police used water cannon to break up a riot here as a new wave of disturbances by disaffected youths hit four Swiss cities. The main clashes were in Zurich, where hundreds of demonstrators protested against court prosecution of earlier rioters. The so-called "Discontented" movement also called demonstrators to the streets in Bern, the capital, Lucerne, and Laussanne.

Clashes between police and members of the movement, which is opposed to the values of Switzerland's consumer society, go back to September, when youths objected violently to the closure of a Zurich cultural center run by the movement.