DENMARK: Activists tearful as controversial youth centre is torn down in Copenhagen.

Some 50 activists looked on in frustration as a controversial youth centre was demolished on Monday. The eviction of squatters in the building had led to violent clashes between police and youth over the weekend. Two cranes on Monday (March 5) started demolishing a building at the centre of a storm which led to violent clashes between activists and police in the Danish capital, Copenhagen. The conflict over the youth centre has simmered since 2000 when local government, which had lent it to the youngsters since 1982, sold the building to a religious group. Police moved to evict the squatters early on Thursday (March 1), implementing a court order issued last year. On Saturday (March 3), Copenhagen saw some of the worst violence since the eviction of the squatters. Witnesses said protesters vandalised a high school, threw cobblestones at police and smashed shop windows. Two police officers and three protesters were injured, according to police. As the demolition got underway, some 50 activists, many of them in tears, protested quietly outside the house under the watchful eyes of riot police. One activist who had been protesting for days said she was sad to see the demolition taking place. "I have been fighting the last few days. Right now I'm standing here probably about nothing. It is damn cold but we are here and I feel so sad. It is terrible, frustration, everything. We can't do anything other than being here and telling them how we feel, but it's not funny," said a girl who gave her name as Isis. The new owners said the building had to be torn down because it was in bad condition. Fearing the safety of its staff, the company that supplied the two cranes covered the logos on its vehicles. According to local media, the crane operators also wore masks to conceal their identities. Demolition stopped before noon to investigate a possible asbestos problem, Danish media reported. More then 600 people have been held since the violence erupted on Thursday. They included Germans, Swedes, Norwegians, Italians, Irish people, Britons and Spaniards. 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. The violence has stunned the relatively wealthy and peaceful Nordic country. But Denmark has a tradition of non-conformism and tolerance of rebellion, and many Copenhagen residents say they support the youngsters' wish to stay in the youth centre.

ITN Source | March 5, 2007

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