Members of the neo-Nazi group The Nordic Resistance Movement ended up in a scuffle with police on Saturday afternoon. Many of them are taken into custody.
COO Tor Gulbrandsen confirms this to VG. Filter news first mentioned the matter.
NRK he also discussed the issue, and writes that there was talk of riots.
VG was sent a video showing demonstrators in close combat with police in the area between the Thon Hotel Europa in St. Olavs gate and Pilestredet, a few hundred meters from Slottsparken and the Castle in central Oslo.
– NRK must be responsible for the use of words, but we are talking about a group of 40-50 people who have a desire to express themselves. This has not been clarified in advance with the police and the landowner, the operations manager says.
He points out that it is permissible to demonstrate peacefully, but that the group refused to follow police instructions when they moved to central Oslo. The police then took several people into custody.
– Can you confirm that some of them fight with the police?
– There were some who opposed the police. They refused to obey our orders and resisted arrest. It is conceivable that more people will also receive a complaint for that particular party, for violence against officials, Gulbrandsen says.
The leader of the operations on the spot, Erik Hestvik, said at 4.30 pm that there were no injuries, but that nine people were arrested in Universitetsgata and another 26 people in St. Olavs gate.
– Everyone was taken into custody, says Hestvik.
– Can you say more about the sequence of events?
– Now this is how in this country we want to facilitate the relationship for any expression and this includes the grouping that we have faced today, but when we then make contacts and there is no climate of dialogue, then it is difficult to put the right conditions. So it is the starting point of the police that we create the right conditions for freedom of expression, but that requires a certain dialogue, which was not present today, says Hestvik.
– The group you speak of is the Nordic Resistance Movement. Tell us more about how they performed today?
– The photo speaks for itself, but as I said, there was some push in relation to the arrest in the two places, but no one was injured and we are satisfied with that.
He says that those who have been arrested include individuals from different countries.
– Can you tell us something about the criminal history?
– No, I can’t go into it. There is now a number of nine plus 26, and we need to have some time to take control of it.
– What happens next with them?
– They have been taken into custody and will then be registered with us. And the reviews will be written, so we’ll see what the reaction will be.
No weapons were found on anyone in the groupings, the group leader says.
Opinion opponents
The commotion occurred in the vicinity of an announced demonstration underway with several hundred participants against the Iranian dictatorship.
The large crowd and large police presence also meant that car traffic in the area was cut off by the police for a shorter period. Photos from the scene show that some police officers are wearing gas masks.
– Here we are talking about different groups that oppose opinion. The police have had more resources to prevent these groups from ending up in some form of fighting. That didn’t happen either, says Gulbrandsen.
– Photos from the scene show police officers wearing gas masks. Was tear gas used on protesters?
– We have it as part of the equipment. I’m a little unsure if it’s been used so far, she says.
– It is still in progress?
– We are transporting people in, but it will take some time because there is such a large group, the operations manager tells VG at 3:19 pm.
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Eyewitness: – Shouted Nazi slogans
Emil Bjørnstad Belgau, who was close to where the commotion occurred, tells VG that the Nordic Resistance Movement protesters walked from the castle via Universitetsgata and went up to Pilestredet.
– They shouted Nazi slogans and there were about 40 of them. I assume half of them disappeared along the way, he says.
– When the neo-Nazis of the Nordic Resistance Movement came here, I saw that five or six of them were arrested by the police and taken away, adds Belgau.
The Iranian-Norwegian Kaveh Abdali took part in the demonstration against the Iranian dictatorship, which passed close to the noise surrounding the Nordic Resistance Movement. She was one of several hundred people who took part in the legal train demonstration in central Oslo on Saturday afternoon.
– I didn’t particularly notice what happened near our demonstration train. Also, I don’t want to worry about what this neo-Nazi group would mean. I leave it to the police, says Abdali, who heads the Kurdistan Democratic Party overseas organization. He points out that the demonstration in which he himself participated was completely legal and approved by the police.
