Al Jazeera English - News - Danish Police Brace For New Clashes

UPDATED ON:
SATURDAY, MARCH 03, 2007
22:19 MECCA TIME, 19:19 GMT

NEWS EUROPE





Danish police brace for new clashes

Violence began after protesters gathered near a house from which squatters were evicted[AFP]

Danish police are preparing for fresh street battles with youths who set fire to cars early on Saturday in protest against the eviction of squatters from a Copenhagen youth centre.

Protesters hurled Molotov cocktails and stones at police who fired tear gas in morning clashes.

At least 200 activists were detained in the clashes and raids.

Saturday morning's arrests brought the total to some 600 in three days of violence.

Police, who used helicopters and water cannons to evict the squatters from the centre on Thursday, raided houses on Saturday to find foreign activists who they said would be expelled.

New protests

"If the politicians don't want to give a new house to the young people then the conflict will go on"

Nikolaj Villumsen, Socialistic Democratic Party

Media reports spoke of around 50 foreigners, including Germans.

Flemming Steen Munch, a police spokesman, said police were readied for renewed clashes on Saturday night and drafted reinforcements from other districts and borrowed police vans from Sweden.

A new demonstration was planned in the capital at 10 pm (21:00 GMT), activists said. Media reports said protesters were urged via mass cellphone text messages to demonstrate.

A peaceful demonstration was also held on Saturday evening in Copenhagen's multi-ethnic, working class Norrebro district, the focus of recent protests.

Cultural centre

The central Copenhagen building had become a popular cultural centre for anarchists, punk rockers and left-wing groups, where performers have included Australian musician Nick Cave and Icelandic singer Bjork.

Several shops in the area, where Thursday's clashes took place, had boarded their windows fearing more violence.

On Friday, a dozen demonstrators occupied the headquarters of the Social Democratic Party to protest against the eviction and demanded that Copenhagen's mayor take action to give the squatters a new house.

More than 600 people have been arrested
since Thursday's clashes [EPA]

Nikolaj Villumsen, a member of the Socialistic Youth Front, told Al Jazeera that he did not support the violence but he believed Denmark needed more youth centres.

"If the politicians don't want to give a new house to the young people then the conflict will go on.

"The Danish government should provide a house for the young people. It will only cost about 12 million Danish krone.

"The government has already spent about 7 million krone in trying to combat the riots."

The eviction had been planned since last year, when courts ordered the squatters to hand it over to a Christian congregation that bought it six years ago.

The squatters refused, saying the city had no right to sell the four-storey building while it was still in use.

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies

Related:
	Denmark protest ends in violence (17 Dec 2006)
	Danish police clash with squatters (01 Mar 2007)
	Hundreds arrested in Danish clashes (03 Mar 2007)

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