The police are observing protesters at Aleksanterinkatu in Helsinki on October 19, 2019. Picture and video: Tony Öhberg for Finland Today
On late Saturday afternoon, about 300 protesters at Narinkkatori in Helsinki gathered to demonstrate in solidarity with Rojava in northern Syria, which is under the attack of the Turkish regime.
But when the protesters, of which many were Finnish Kurds, were about to start their march, they were stopped by the police in riot gear. The police blocked the protesters’ vehicle, a van, which had a loud sound system inside.
According to the police, they had been negotiating with the arrangers for an hour about a safety risk involving driving with the van in lead. The negotiations had failed.
The police took action and clashed with some of the protesters. Some of the action is caught on the video filmed by Finland Today.
The police had to break the vehicle’s window to stop it. The crowd was controlled with police horses and dogs.
At the same time, several protesters tried to stop a police car from moving. The police had to use the taser to calm down one of the protesters.
After the clash, the protesters were able to continue their march, which took a spin around downtown Helsinki.
In our video, we present an interview with one of the protesters and his thoughts about the action.
The police have filed several crime reports about the incident in the beginning, including the violent resistance of an official in the performance of his duties.
So far, no person has been arrested.
