Denmark: Riots in Christiania

[Djehuti]

Early this morning the police stormed Freetown Christiania (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freetown_Christiania) in Copenhagen and begun tearing town a building ("Vadestedet"). Several hundreds of protesters quickly gathered from all over the city to defend the Freetown.

By now I think it's calm, but there has been rioting.

Live updated (in danish) and pictures:
http://modkraft.dk/spip.php?article9012

[KurtFF8]

Are there any news articles about this? (In English?)

[Djehuti]

Not that I know of. Here's some movie clips:

http://politiken.tv/nyheder/indland/article589714.ece
http://politiken.tv/nyheder/indland/article306149.ece
http://politiken.tv/nyheder/indland/article589477.ece

[Mather]

Whatever happened to the squatters and activists who used to belong to the 'Youth House' that was closed down this year?

Have they gone to live in Christiania or have they set up a new social centre/squat?

[KurtFF8]

I found an AFP article on it:


COPENHAGEN (AFP) – More than 300 inhabitants of Copenhagen's "free city" of Christiania, a giant squat, clashed with police late Tuesday putting up barricades and throwing petrol bombs after the police demolished an illegal building.
The demonstrators used guerrilla tactics, harassing the police in the streets around Christiania and setting fire to rubbish bins, chairs and old refrigerators.
Protesters said the police had provoked the action by demolishing a house that authorities said had been built illegally on a historic site, the old ramparts of Copenhagen.
As the enclave's main street Princessegade looked like a war zone with blazing barricades and clouds of tear gas, Copenhagen police spokesman Flemming Steen Munch said at least three demonstrators had been arrested. It was not known if people had been hurt in the confrontations.
An alternative community founded by hippies in 1971 in an abandoned military barracks near the centre of the Danish capital, Christiania is home to some 1,000 hippies, artists, activists and misfits as well as to restaurants, cafes, shops and some unique-looking homes designed by residents.
Politicians have been divided over the community, with some seeing it as an interesting social experiment, while others say it is merely a den of drugs and crime.
A popular tourist attraction, the area also has the dubious reputation of being the biggest drug market in Scandinavia. But police crackdowns since March 2004 have nearly wiped out the drug trade.


From: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20081029/wl_afp/denmarksocietychristianiademo_081029010533

[An archist]

Was this expected or did the police take them by surprise?

EDIT: Wow, the cops have cluster teargas grenades in Denmark?

[Louis Pio]

Was just a small riot. The point that angered people was that the court case about the right to use of the whole premises is set to start on Monday, so some people basically saw it as a provocation and rightly so. However the politicians and police have been quite quick and skilled at using this riot as bad publicity against Christiania.
Here's a few articles in english on the incident:
http://politiken.dk/newsinenglish/article589306.ece
http://politiken.dk/newsinenglish/article589680.ece
Not much I know

In regards to the Youth House they got a new house from the city council. Which has just opened, it seems they are trying not to be so introvert and cliqueish as they used to but are instead actually reaching out to the local community in the place were the new house is, so they might get to hold on to it for a long while one could hope