GENEVA 

Organizers of last Saturday's pro-Palestinian demonstration in the Swiss capital Bern have demanded an investigation into what they described as police brutality, saying that 256 demonstrators were injured in clashes.

According to Swissinfo, around 30 organizations, including Waves of Freedom, the group behind the Swiss flotilla for Gaza, issued a statement saying: "Having observed a distorted media treatment, we wish to give our version of the facts."

They accused Bern police of applying "brutality without half-measures" against peaceful protesters.

"On the one hand a water cannon was fired, on the other hand the demonstrators were hit with pepper spray and batons," the statement said.

According to the organizers, part of the group was surrounded by security forces and "deprived of their basic rights for almost twelve hours." They added that demonstrators were denied access to toilets, food, and blankets despite the cold temperature, and that some people even suffered hypothermia.

The coalition demanded firm protection of the right to demonstrate and called for an "immediate, independent and impartial" investigation into police conduct during the protest.