What's the Danish for fuck the police?

It looks like things are really kicking off in Copenhagen.


Internationally most famous for its statue of Hans Christian Anderson's Little Mermaid (which is frankly crap in case you were thinking about going), the city also has a vibrant underground. The "Freetown" of Christiania is a former military base which has been squatted since the 1970s and become a hippy-commune-cum-drugs-supermarket, although the Danish state has increasingly tried to assert its control over the community in recent years. The city also has a squatted social centre known as the Youth House (Ungdomshuset) which has been occupied since 1982. Unfortunately, the authorities sold the building to a Christian group who have now obtained a court order for the eviction of the residents. This order was implemented on Thursday (March 1).


The eviction was carried out at 7am (6am GMT) by anti-terror police, deployed from helicopters. Police were soon in control of the building, but more than a thousand squatters and supporters took to the surrounding streets, erecting barricades, torching cars and skirmishing with police. Thursday's clashes led to the arrest of 217 people and injuries to a 25 people, but this wasn't the end of unrest. On Friday night into Saturday morning, squatters again took to the streets, engaging in battles with police, leading to the arrest of 100 people.


Squatters have pledged to continue their fight. Jan, apparently a "spokesman" for the squatters, told Reuters, that activists planned to disrupt traffic, with "pin-point actions creating short breakdowns and disruptions. For example, having a dinner party in the street". He further asserted, "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." Solidarity demonstrations, meanwhile, have taken place in Australia, Germany, Norway, Sweden and London.