2008-03-19
After the violent eviction of the squatted Ungdomshuset [Youth House] in Copenhagen on 1st March 2007, many streets were barricaded and disorder spread throughout the city for several days. Solidarity demonstrations and direct action has taken place around the world since then, demanding a new Youth House. There were numerous arrests at the time.
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250 charges dropped and 26 acquited
from dk-imc, 17 March 2008:
Recently 26 demonstrators arrested on March 1st 2007 were acquitted in the City Court. Another 250 minor charges were also dropped en masse.
One of the most interesting court cases to emerge from March 1st 2007 was against 26 demonstrators and bystanders arrested during the big demo in the afternoon.
The 26 were charged with “aiding to commit violence against the police” simply for being present at the demo. The defense has continually argued that they did not have the option of leaving because police kept turning them back at the police blocks.
A few days ago the 26, including a retired 70-odd year old surgeon and a journalist, were acquitted in the City Court. The conviction was directly appealed to the National Court in a very unusual move by the prosecution, reportedly prompting the presiding judge to leave in anger with the stupidity of the case.
Commentators are calling the case a spectacular defeat for the prosecution and several of the defense lawyers are demanding investigations be launched into the grat deal of falsified information supplied by the police as evidence in the case.
Additionally 250 minor charges such as disturbing the peace against activists were dropped en masse by the prosecutor’s office demonstrating the extreme overload on their resources incurred by the volume of Ungdomshus cases.
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