News-Politics: Germans protest against US spying on German communication systems

On Saturday, more than 10,000 people took to the streets across Germany in protests against the spying on German communications by American intelligence agencies -- a far greater number of people than organizers had anticipated. Many are also angry about the German government's lukewarm response to the scandal. In Berlin, a participant held up a sign reading, "1985 Has Arrived".

Thousands of people have gathered in Germany to protest against the alleged widespread surveillance of internet users by US intelligence services.

                     

Many also showed solidarity with whistleblowers like Bradley Manning (left), whose verdict is expected in a US military court this week, and Edward Snowden, who is currently awaiting temporary asylum in Moscow after leaking NSA documents.

Protesters, responding to calls by a loose network calling itself ‘stopwatchingus’, went on the streets on Saturday to demonstrate in Hamburg, Munich, Berlin and up to 35 other German cities and towns.     

                      

Some wore tinfoil hats to shield themselves from the sun and make a political statement about warding off unwanted eavesdroppers.

Snowden support

Others held placards showing support for National Security Agency (NSA) leaker Edward Snowden, who revealed documents detailing the agency's extensive secret surveillance programme known as Prism.

                         

The Prism revelations caused an international uproar against what many view as an invasion of privacy.

The scandal has been especially contentious in Germany after media reports claimed the NSA had conducted wide scale gathering of electronic data, including e-mails, of German citizens.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel raised the issue of the NSA's alleged interception of Web traffic when US President Barack Obama visited Berlin last month.

But German opposition parties remain sceptical of the government's claim that it had known nothing about the surveillance.

                          

And here, evoking President John F. Kennedy's famous speech, a protesters' sign reads: "Dear Mr. Snowden: You are a Berliner!

                      

More than 2,000 protesters turned out in Berlin alone, where temperatures soared to 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit) on Saturday.

                               

Funny guy: Here, a protester dressed as Uncle Sam, warns America's intelligence agencies, "I'm watching you"

                       

On Monday, these protestors called Merkel the "surveillance chancellor" and added the name of Germany's own intelligence agency to a mock camera. The image of Merkel wearing headphones evokes the Oscar-winning German film about Stasi spying and harassment called, "The Lives of Others"