Officials used pepper spray to spread a small group of protesters who had blocked traffic for hours sitting in the middle of a busy road and sparked a nationwide debate over police use of force. Ohisalo pondered publicly on Tuesday, which made the demonstration different enough from previous ones to justify the approach.
In its reply, the National Board of Police refers to a report submitted by the Helsinki Police Department on the order of events. The report drew attention to the obstruction caused by the protesters, but also to the danger they posed to themselves and to similar officials sitting in the middle of a busy road.
“The traffic obstruction also posed a danger to rescue operations,” it was said.
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The organizer of the protest, Extinction Rebellion Finland (Elokapina), had submitted a preliminary notice of the protest to the police, but the notice did not mention the plan to block traffic on Kaisaniemenkatu and Unioninkatu.
The Helsinki Police Department pointed out that the pepper spray was not used until its officials had spent hours trying to use less severe measures, such as instructions, requests and orders, to clean the road unnecessarily. The physical transport of protesters on the path had similarly failed to stop the demonstrations and traffic obstructions.
The hurdle had lasted three hours by the time the officials began considering the use of pepper spray, according to the Helsinki Police Department. The officer in charge of the operation approved the use of pepper spray after concluding that the dispersal of the protesters was the most gentle act of violence. The made the decision at about 7 p.m., four hours after the planned end of the demonstration.
“There were no resources to transport every person who fails to comply with police regulations,” it added. “Carrying or opening chained protesters could have caused physical injury.”
Before using the spray, officials warned the protesters of the decision to use the spray and gave them five minutes to clear the road.
Officials used the spray on the protesters three times and watched its effects each time a handful of protesters left the road and finally a group that had chained themselves together opened the locks.
“After using the syringe, the protesters were removed from the road, and the removed protesters did not return,” the report reads.
The Helsinki Police Department stated that the pepper spray had the desired effect.
In its report, the Police Government recalled that the police have a duty to safeguard not only the right to protest but also the rights of other citizens. The officers supervising the demonstration seek to ensure that they do not unnecessarily restrict anyone’s freedom of assembly throughout the operation.
The pepper spray was thus a justified violent measure to move the protesters, break the resistance and remove obstacles to traffic.
The police government acknowledged that the illegal but peaceful approach taken by the protesters required police to respond to the peaceful nature of the incident and to show some patience and tolerance. even if they are not subjected to violence, threats or aggression.
The demonstration and the surrounding events are also being investigated in the Office of the Prosecutor General and the Parliamentary Ombudsman.
Aleksi Teivainen – HT
Source: New Finland