2009-12-07
The risk is especially high if it is followed by activists who are in police black book. It admits Deputy Police Inspector at the Copenhagen Police, Flemming Steen Munch:
"The problem is that troublemakers hide among peaceful demonstrators. So I will not deny that there may be several who mistakenly gets a rejection. But that risk we have to run if we want to avoid trouble. "
Flemming Steen Munch believes that the police in most cases will be able to distinguish between peace activists and troublemakers, and he rejects that some might get a rejection at the border simply because the border guards believes he or she resembles a criminal activist .
"We do not judge people on their appearance alone (how nice of you to consider other factors as well :-S). Control is not directed against ordinary people, but against those who just want to make violence and vandalism, "he said.
Police black book
Police have no definitive characterization of the types of activists who stand in their black book, but a few points are listed
"If you come with membership of a group that does not recognize the rules of the game in our society, like anarchists, we'll say no thanks to a visit. There is no reason to ask about violence and vandalism, "said Flemming Steen Munch and continues:
"If the activists are known in international registers as some who participated in riots, they are also not allowed to enter.
They will also be denied access if they are taken with weapon, tear gas, gas masks, or anything that indicates that you must participate in a demonstration strife.
Additionally, you as an activist in the group pay attention to what the group has announced. The German group 'Interventionistische Links' calls, for example on its website to storm or block the climate summit, and it is according to Flemming Steen Munch enough to reject team members at the border.
"It is not the sort of guests, we invite for coffee," he said.
According to law professor at Copenhagen University, Jørn Vestergaard, police have the right to reject activists, although they are not criminals but are confined to a group that calls for negative attention.
'After the Aliens Act an alien may be rejected from admission if he should enter with the intent of creating disorder, relations with foreign powers or for health and safety reasons. So in this context, the police have a very wide discretion to refuse people at the border, "he said.
The police would not lurk at the border day and night in search of activists who ushers might be troublemakers.
"We will go to the border if we get reports that there are some interesting types of road," said Flemming Steen Munch. He explains that the police in Germany, Sweden and Norway, contacts the danish police if something happens in their activist communities, which are connected to the climate summit.
Activists are planning unrest
Screening at borders will help to ensure that there will be fewer foreign activists to the non-peaceful actions in Copenhagen. But it does not seem to put a lid on the operations.
Recently, the group 'Do not buy the lie! " submitted a plan on its website with details of an operation to be carried out in Copenhagen on Friday. The purpose of this action is clear:
"Many of the actors involved in climate summit in Copenhagen, contributes to the planet's destruction and the endorsement of false solutions. We will take direct action against these organizations to stop their activities and put them temporarily out of the game using different tactics ", says the plan, written in English, as activists from around the world can read with.
The activists will meet at 10 o'clock Nytorv, where they will divide up into several groups. A group should spread the message of the action with graffiti and posters. Another group will run in and harass offices, meeting rooms and shops. While a third group will create chaos in the streets. The plan does not leak information about which shops and offices, the activists have chosen themselves. But it is clear that the activists will be informed about what the route is:
"This way they can if they become torn apart by the police or other malevolent forces urgently continue towards their goal", it says.