Street clashes in Copenhagen [Archive]

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BreadBros

17th December 2006, 12:09

http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews....&src=rss&rpc=22 (http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=worldNews&storyid=2006-12-16T224405Z_01_L16725503_RTRUKOC_0_US-DENMARK-CLASHES.xml&src=rss&rpc=22)

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - More than 300 demonstrators were arrested in the Danish capital on Saturday after violent clashes between police and youths who were protesting against the planned closure of a youth center in the city.

Several hundred demonstrators threw cobblestones, bottles and fireworks at police and erected blazing barricades made from Christmas trees, trash cans and bicycles, police said.

"It was extremely violent. It looked like a war zone and it's been many years since we last had to use tear gas on the streets," police spokesman Flemming Steen Munch told reporters.

[...]

The conflict over the youth center has been brewing since 2000 when local government sold the building that houses the center. Left-wing activist have been using the center as a base since 1982.

Djehuti

17th December 2006, 18:40

http://img.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/0612/16/bilattack.jpg

Movie1:
http://politiken.dk/poltv/?ExtID=1237
Movie2:
http://politiken.dk/poltv/?ExtID=1238
Movie3:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Ljdt6d5Tnk
Pictures:
http://www.motkraft.net/index.php?view=news&id=2477

Djehuti

17th December 2006, 22:07

More pictures:
http://politiken.dk/fotografier/billedhjul...gallery&start=1 (http://politiken.dk/fotografier/billedhjul_foto/article214130.ece?service=gallery&start=1)

Red October

17th December 2006, 23:13

what is the skull&crossbones emblem on the banners and flags for?

Pawn Power

17th December 2006, 23:24

From the article:

The current owners have a court order to have the squatters evicted but the youths have sworn to protect the house and have repeatedly called for a political solution.

Could it get more serious? Is there much support around them? I guess with 300 arrests they lost some of there numbers.

EnragÃ©

17th December 2006, 23:25

whoa thats intense

do you know anything about the level of support from the average guy in copenhagen?

bcbm

18th December 2006, 06:08

Originally posted by Red October [email protected] 17, 2006 05:13 pm
what is the skull&crossbones emblem on the banners and flags for?
Um... pirates?

Solidarity to all the arrested comrades, and those on the street. Don't give up!

Karl Marx's Camel

18th December 2006, 11:14

do you know anything about the level of support from the average guy in copenhagen?

Denmark is one of the most extreme right countires in Europe.

When I first heard about this I figured it was right wingers out on the streets killing muslims and other "sandniggers".

Louis Pio

18th December 2006, 13:58

Well the situation is sorta stale now. There was one demonstration Saturday that ended up in riots, and the politicians are out now washing hands and blaiming everything on the activists, the situation is however more complex than that.

The whole thing is about a place called Ungdomshuset (youthhouse) which was given to punkx/squatters/youth etc in 1982, the then mayor of copenhagen says it's theirs, this is however not put on paper which is a problem later.
The house burns half down in 1996 which makes some in the city council suggest it shouldn't be build up again.
In 1997 theres a new aggrement signed concerning the house which means that the use of the house can be easily cancelled.
Then in 1999 the city council decides to close the house down.
In 2000 the house is sold to a company, called Human A/S, a rightwing christian sect first wanted to buy it but the city council said no.
In 2001 Human A/S sells the house to the rightwin christian sect "faderhuset" (house of the father), it seems Human A/S was probably a front for them, it's not sure though as far as I know.
Then from 2003 til now the case has been in courts, and everytime the courts has voted in favor of faderhuset because they in bourgious sense has the ownership of the house, even though it has been used by different activists since 1982, with punk concerts and other activities.

Regarding popular support it is my impression that some has gone after the riots, Also alot of people see the presense of a large number of foreign activists as anarchists just coming to wreck Nørrebro, Copenhagen. Which has happened before.
There is however still support from some of the local shopkeepers and people on Nørrebro and Denmark as a whole who put the blame on the politicians who has handled the case very badly.

Most of the arrested are released now, but will be put on trial later. The people still in jail are a few locals and alot of foreign activists. The house still stands and the policie haven't thrown people out yet since it will be a hard task, they will probably do it some time after new year.

Btw on top of that the building used to be an gathering place of the workersmovement in Denmark, Lenin visited some time during the big 2. international congress held in Copenhagen. It seems the sect will maybe tear it down so some unions have spoken against that without supporting the activists as a whole.

I probably forgot something, but that happens when trying to give an overview of the situation

Ungdomshuset in english (http://ungdomshuset.info/en.php3?id_rubrique=4)

The Feral Underclass

18th December 2006, 15:00

I think two of my punk friends from Sheffield were there. I know they had been staying there during the summer and I had heard that things were gonna go crazy. I didn't realise it had happened until this very momment though.

What is the situation with the actual centre now, I don't quite understand?

Louis Pio

18th December 2006, 15:43

Check the link I posted in the bottom. It's the english page of ungdomshuset.

But in short the court ruled the house should be cleared by the 14 December. This hasn't happened yet because the police prefere not to give an exact date but just clear the house when they like, which seems to be sometime after new year.

Djehuti

18th December 2006, 16:58

Originally posted by Pawn [email protected] 18, 2006 12:24 am
Could it get more serious? Is there much support around them? I guess with 300 arrests they lost some of there numbers.
There was a support demonstration in Copenhagen with 5000 participants. The youths got surpricingly good support in Danmark as far as I know, even though the riots have caused some collateral damage on personal property.

Most of those 300 have been released and only a few will be put to trial. Also the more experienced street fighters managed not to be caught at all. Many were also helped to escape by locals who let them through doors and showed them passages etc.

Djehuti

18th December 2006, 16:59

Originally posted by [email protected] 18, 2006 12:14 pm
Denmark is one of the most extreme right countires in Europe.

Not really. Unfortunatly most european countries got racist right wing parties in their parliament. Not just Denmark. I don't think that Denmark is worse than most, rather the opposite. Denmark is right-wing, but still more left-wing than most countries today. :/

EnragÃ©

18th December 2006, 17:03

as in denmark is just polarised?

we're getting that over here too..

there's a good side to that

Louis Pio

18th December 2006, 17:13

The youths got surpricingly good support in Danmark as far as I know, even though the riots have caused some collateral damage on personal property.

It's hard to get a picture of how big the support is, the picture I get from news, talking with people, message boards and so in is something like this: A quite loud group of people seems to take the stand that the military should be put in or the police use guns, some people think the activists should just leave before things go even more crazy and find another place, then there's people supporting ungdomshuset but not the riots and a minority thinks the riots were in order.

Btw according to the biggest danish tabloid Ekstra Bladet, all the arrested will be put in the danish DNA register, in 2005 the laws were changed so anyone accused of something that could give more than 1,5 years in jail can be put in it.

as in denmark is just polarised?

Yeah it's getting quite polarised recently, that's what happens after 5 years with a rightwing government. Not so bad in my oppinion, as long as the biggest part get's polarised to the left ;)

An archist

18th December 2006, 17:56

razboz

18th December 2006, 18:15

Someone might already have said this but did they not all get freed? The 300 arreste Danes all get freed? I heard there are some foreigners still in prison. Can anyone clarify their situation (if there is one)?

Louis Pio

18th December 2006, 18:25

Out of 273 arrested only 3 have to remain in jail.
1 dane, 1 from Spain or Italy, 1 from portugal. Seems they have to stay in jail untill January 12.

The police have now formed a special task force which will look for evidence against all the arrested. It seems the police have also taken a group of around 30 foreign activists and driven them to the border. They can however just travel back if they want.

Edit: some more pics http://indymedia.dk/article/754

rebelworker

18th December 2006, 18:37

One of my roomies brothers was arrested there.

I think he got deported, Ive been out of town for a while so Im not sure.

Louis Pio

18th December 2006, 22:07

Here's the adress for their pirate radio, sometimes they talk in english but mostly they play music. They distorted their voices so it sound quite funny Ungdomshus pirateradio (http://www.myspace.com/piratradio69)

The Feral Underclass

18th December 2006, 23:27

Yeah, it turns out one of my friends was there.

Louis Pio

19th December 2006, 15:35

It seems there's more peole still in jail than I thought, Today the media says that around 20 none danes has to spend christmas in jail