Police were called in to evict around 15 squatters out of an old building in downtown Oslo last week, and that set off demonstrations involving an estimated 200 persons.
Their protests turned violent Thursday night and again during the weekend, when they lit garbage cans on fire, set off fireworks and threw various objects at police. Neighbours of the squatters in Hausmanns Gate 42 also entered the fray, when they protested the protesters’ use of their garden furniture and other property to feed the fires.
The street fight forced police to cordon off the area, disrupting traffic, and another fire set Saturday night was extinguished by a representative from the cultural institution Hausmania nearby. Demonstrators on Saturday mostly restrained themselves to throwing eggs and paint at police.
There were several reports that those evicted from the city apartment building moved north of the city and into abandoned public buildings at Skar in Maridalen, a scenic valley feeding into the forest known as Nordmarka. Police were awaiting further instruction from the government agencies owning the buildings.
By Views and News staff
