Danish police battle protesters, 200 held

By Staff
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COPENHAGEN, Mar 3 (Reuters) Danish police fought fresh street battles today with youths who set fire to cars in protest at the eviction of squatters from a Copenhagen youth centre.

Demonstrators hurled Molotov cocktails and stones at police who fired tear gas in early morning clashes. At least 200 activists were detained in the clashes and subsequent police raids, bringing the total to some 600 in three days of violence.

Police, who used helicopters and water cannon to evict the squatters from the centre on Thursday, raided houses today to find foreign activists who they said would be expelled. Media reports spoke of around 50 foreigners, including Germans.

Police were braced for fresh clashes tonight and drafted reinforcements from other districts and borrowed police vans from Sweden, police spokesman Flemming Steen Munch said.

A new demonstration was planned in the capital at 10 pm 0230 hrs IST, activists said. Media reports said protesters were urged via mass cellphone text messages to demonstrate.

''The struggle will continue for a long time. As long as there is no Youth House in Copenhagen, there will be a fight to get one,'' said Jan, a spokesman for the youth centre.

A peaceful demonstration was also held today ending in Copenhagen's multi-ethnic, working class Norrebro district, the focus of recent protests with the hippie enclave Christiania.

The conflict over the youth centre has simmered since 2000 when local government sold the building to a religious group.

Left-wing activists have used it as a base since 1982 but the current owners gained a 2006 court order to evict squatters.

The clashes early today flared after a street party with live music in Norrebro sparked violence after midnight in St Hans Square.

VEHICLES TORCHED Demonstrators have set cars and barricades on fire, vandalised a high school and thrown Molotov cocktails and cobblestones at police during the protests.

Two police officers and three protesters have been injured, police said.

Activists have vowed to keep up the protests to retake control of the worn-down building in Norrebro which the youngsters borrowed from the local government in 1982 to arrange concerts and other events.

The youths have repeatedly called for a political solution to the dispute over the youth centre but rejected a proposal to move to another building.

Minister of justice Lene Espersen yesterday praised the way police handled the protests to minimise injuries, and also urged parents to persuade their children not to resort to violence.

Danish police in 1993 for the first and only time since World War Two fired into a demonstration, the night of a referendum on the European Union Maastricht treaty.

A total of 113 shots were fired and nine people hurt, prompting a public outcry and a reform of police strategy.

The scope of recent violence has stunned this relatively wealthy and peaceful Nordic country. But Denmark has a tradition of non-conformism and tolerance for rebellion against authorities, and many Copenhagen residents say they support the youngsters' wish to stay in the youth house.

REUTERS SY BST2355

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