Finland Times

 

police arrested anarchists who prevented the passage of the bus at Railway Square on Tuesday. Photo – Lehtikuva.

The police arrested 10 protesters in Helsinki and gave each a 12 day unit fine for insubordination on Monday. However, in the afternoon, the police were in the process of releasing the protesters.

 

The protesters’ intention was to stop the buses used by the Helsinki City Transport to replace the cancelled metro service and thereby invalidate the consequences of the JHL-led strike.

 

The protestors had on Monday prevented the buses from departing their stations by standing in front of them or preventing their doors from closing by standing in front of the doors.

 

The arrested protesters were mostly men between the ages of 19 and 35.

 

The protesters had been requested several times to leave, but since they failed to comply with orders, the police had to step in.

 

The police were reported to have been prepared to increase manpower for the return traffic.

 

Meanwhile, the protesters have accused the Helsinki police of using unreasonable force to foil the demonstration on Tuesday morning but the police denied the allegation, reported Yle.

 

Suvi Auvinen, a spokesperson for the organisers of the demonstration, made the allegation saying, “Police used pepper foam at Hakaniemi market square. They sprayed it into their gloves and rubbed it into protesters’ faces and eyes, causing strong reactions for people,” the Yle report said.

 

She said police also grabbed the agitators by the throat, stressing that the demonstrators were engaged in a form of passive resistance, although she claimed that police did not face any kind of violence.

 

The Helsinki police, however, straightway rejected the allegation of applying unreasonable force.

 

“The police did not use any restraint tools against anyone,” Superintendent Juha Hakola, the Helsinki police communication chief, told Yle.

 

The police official also said the agitators did not obey police orders and warnings to move from in front of the buses, the Yle report added.