Police blaming pepper spray on climate activists News
Protesters have been accused of assaulting and abusing police who have received pepper spray.
Deputy Attorney General Jukka Rappe has indicted seven police officers against pepper spray activists in Elokapina (Extinction Rebellion’s Finnish branch) in a demonstration in the autumn of 2020. Allegations of assault and abuse are related to the use of force to move protesters.
Prior to the prosecution, police had been subjected to rigorous scrutiny using pepper spray to disperse protesters blocking the city fairway as part of their protest on October 3, 2020.
The protesters had settled at the intersection of Kaisaniemenkatu and Unioninkatu.
Although police initially tried to disperse the protest by other means, police eventually sprayed the protesters with pepper. Police said they warned protesters before the spraying.
The video filmed at the scene showed that the protesters did not leave the scene despite several exposures. Police then physically carried the protesters away. Some of the protesters who were taken away returned to sit down in line with the group’s nonviolent civil disobedience tactics.
The public prosecutor began a preliminary investigation into the case at the end of 2020. There are 15 applicants involved. The matter is being heard in the Helsinki District Court, although the date of the trial has not yet been decided.
The police are convinced that they followed the procedure. Following an internal preliminary investigation conducted in October 2020, the National Board of Police stated that the Helsinki police had acted in accordance with the instructions.
Police who sprayed protesters have continued in their work.