allesennogwat
05-15-2007, 08:59 AM
Reuters-Tuesday May 15
COPENHAGEN - Danish police arrested at least 50 people in Copenhagen on Monday night after violent clashes that started when authorities demolished a wood house in Copenhagen's famous hippie enclave Christiania.
Several hundred people gathered to protest against the demolition, setting fire to rubbish bins and cars near Christiania in central Copenhagen.
Police spokesman Flemming Steen Munk said on Tuesday that five of those arrested would be charged for resisting arrest.
In March, hundreds were arrested in the Danish capital after the eviction of left-wing squatters from a youth centre led to days of violent street clashes.
Christiania was founded by hippies in 1971 in central Copenhagen in abandoned military barracks. Later it grew into a tourist hotspot, largely thanks to an easy trade in soft drugs.
Denmark's centre-right coalition government which has clamped down on the drugs trade wants to construct new buildings, tear down some houses and introduce normal ownership rules in the area, requiring residents to pay rent.
So far, residents have rejected the full government plan and the government has said it will introduce the changes unilaterally, despite protest from supporters of the area.
COPENHAGEN - Danish police arrested at least 50 people in Copenhagen on Monday night after violent clashes that started when authorities demolished a wood house in Copenhagen's famous hippie enclave Christiania.
Several hundred people gathered to protest against the demolition, setting fire to rubbish bins and cars near Christiania in central Copenhagen.
Police spokesman Flemming Steen Munk said on Tuesday that five of those arrested would be charged for resisting arrest.
In March, hundreds were arrested in the Danish capital after the eviction of left-wing squatters from a youth centre led to days of violent street clashes.
Christiania was founded by hippies in 1971 in central Copenhagen in abandoned military barracks. Later it grew into a tourist hotspot, largely thanks to an easy trade in soft drugs.
Denmark's centre-right coalition government which has clamped down on the drugs trade wants to construct new buildings, tear down some houses and introduce normal ownership rules in the area, requiring residents to pay rent.
So far, residents have rejected the full government plan and the government has said it will introduce the changes unilaterally, despite protest from supporters of the area.