Comments on: Finnish police officers guilty of unlawful conduct during protest

By: Martin-Ãƒâ€°ric

Martin-Ãƒâ€°ric — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 12:35:07 +0000

As I recall, some people were merely coming out of the metro at the wrong time and were forced by police to head towards where the protesters were rounded up, thus coerced into ending up arrested.

By: winter, "Yea, Proton Power, now in remission"

winter, "Yea, Proton Power, now in remission" — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 19:12:39 +0000

The cops are pigs line? Well phil, you need to get out there and meet one. Try to ride one day in a cop car and see if you like it.

The donuts are good to go.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 17:50:55 +0000

Looks like that punk is in no position to Smash ASEM.

By: Punter

Punter — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 17:41:39 +0000

“Vandalize orivate property?” Kristian, what about those that vandalize public property? They are just as high on my hate list. Vandalizing and defacing of public buildings, infrasctructure, statues etc all should be handled the same as if it was private property. We the tax payer have paid for it and we don’t need to pay for the repairs too.

As I said, protest peacefully (no damage to people and property) and all is fine, break things or people and expect to be broken back by the full force of the law.

By: maissi

maissi — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 16:38:36 +0000

Maybe I’m paranoid, but that picture looks hand picked.
Pigs, Phil? Classy.

By: Kristian

Kristian — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 16:16:06 +0000

There’s definitely an air of authoritarianism in Finland. It was even worse before when it was a real police state. I don’t think it’s beyond repair though.

Whereas I believe some reshaping of police behavior is needed, I don’t have tolerance for people who vandalize private property. That should be a top priority for police.

By: Phil

Phil — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 15:51:55 +0000

People need to be treated as individuals. Some came to protest peacefully, others came to throw bottles. Detain the bottle throwers, let the others protest in peace. The problem here is that the pigs treated everyone as bottle throwers.

By: Punter

Punter — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 15:25:12 +0000

#2- couldn’t agree more. Peaceful protest is an essential right we all have and must be protected. The time however comes when the peaceful protests have made their point and decide to leave and often it is then that the professional crowd comes in and spoils it for everyone. When these “professionals” take over and push the limits of the law, I then agree with Fred. The law and property must be protected and as far as I’m concerned the protestors give up a lot of rights once they break the law.

By: me

me — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 14:31:44 +0000

I don’t know much about the subject, but did the protestes act violently or did they provoke the police to use violence? If it was a peaceful protest then any kind of arrests would certainly be against the free speach.

By: Fred Fry

Fred Fry — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 14:12:22 +0000

And what about the unlawful conduct of the protesters?