ASEM

Police fill streets of Helsinki - ASEM demonstrations start today

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It was hard to move in the centre of Helsinki on Thursday without seeing large numbers of police officers brought in to secure the upcoming summit of the Asia Europe Meeting (ASEM).
      Some were directing traffic, and others were securing hotels where the high-level guests are being accommodated.
      Police were also preparing to keep order during15 demonstrations by various groups planned in the coming days.
     
Helsinki deputy police chief Jari Liukku says that the ASEM arrangements will be visible on the streets of the Finnish capital mainly in the large number of police - a few thousand of them - on foot.
      The arrangements will affect traffic in the centre of Helsinki.
     
After three in the afternoon on Thursday, the street running in front of the President’s Palace was closed to traffic, and onlookers were kept at a distance from the palace itself.
      Palace caretaker Allan Kahres rolled red carpets onto the cobblestones of the palace courtyard and pavement in front of it, shortly before Roh Moo-hyun, President of the Republic of Korea, arrived at the palace.
      Hundreds of people watched at a safe distance, as official welcoming ceremonies took place. Most of the onlookers were there by chance.
     
The first in a series of demonstrations linked with the ASEM summit began at 9:00 Friday morning with a small rally in front of the Chinese Embassy on the island of Kulosaari organised by the Falun Gong spiritual movement, which has been banned in China.
      About 20 representatives of Falun Gong were on hand, as well as "a van full of police", said representatives of the demonstration.
      The English-language banners demanded an immediate end to the repression of Falun Gong in China. A Finnish-language sign complained of "state terror" in China.
     
Police in Helsinki had been officially informed of plans for 15 different demonstrations linked with ASEM events between Friday and Monday. Many of them were for small events organised Falun Gong, criticising the state of human rights in China.
      At least two demos are planned concerning Myanmar, and issues concerning Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, and Cambodia are also topics of some of the demonstrations.
      Saturday is set to be a busy protest day. It is then that the Helsinki 2006 NGO network will hold a demonstration, which the organisers expect will attract 2,000 - 3,000 people calling for a fairer Europe.
      Planners of the Helsinki 2006 event promise that their protest will be completely non-violent. Police are more concerned with the Smash ASEM demonstration organised by Finnish anarchists. Organisers state as one of their goals to bring chaos to the streets. Jari Liukku says that disturbances are likely.
      Police estimate that Smash ASEM might attract several hundred people onto the streets, although Liukku says that the crowd could dwindle to a few dozen.
      "We hope that bystanders would not go into the middle of the action, or that if they do, they should understand that they are at risk of becoming involved in activities that bear the characteristics of a crime.
      A representative of Smash ASEM told Helsingin Sanomat that he expects between 100 and 1,000 people to take part. He also said that "some" people are coming to the event from abroad.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Ninety dark blue Volvos available for ASEM participants (7.9.2006)
  Parking restricted during summits in Helsinki (7.9.2006)

Helsingin Sanomat