Storm on Christiania

international | miscellaneous | news report Wednesday July 30, 2003 09:33 by Corvuspica

Danish Police get ready to crush the Free Town of Christiania

Danish police, having been embarrassed by the presence of the autonomous free town of Christiania for decades, are preparing to attack the town under the guise of ridding it off its thriving cannabis trade.

Danish Police are tired of the prodigious cannabis dealing in the Free Town of Christiania in Copenhagen. The town will now be stormed, according to Jyllands-posten.

- We have harassed dealers and buyers for a long time. We will continue this approach, but at some stage we have to draw the line. We are going to clear up Pusherstreet when we deem it appropriate. It will be done, once and for all, according to Chief Inspector Kai Vittrup of the Copenhagen police. Vittrup will not reveal when the storm on Christiania will occur, but confirms that it will be an extensive operation.

Police will create a ring around the entirety of the so-called Free Town, mainly to prevent demonstrators and other troublemakers from coming to the aid of Pusherstreet`s cannabis dealers
Police are also expecting that an operation against Christiania will trigger unrest in other areas of Copenhagen, and will keep a large force in reserve to deal with this.

Police never enter Christiania with fewer than 60-70 police officers, but recognise that this is insufficient when they once and for all will clean up the towns cannabis trade.

-This operation will be of a completely different magnitude and we will need reinforcements from other police districts. However, this operation will be precise and effective. When we have cleared up Pusherstreet, we are there to stay. We will maintain a force comprised of between 30 and 60 police officers there around the clock, until the area becomes law abiding.



-We cannot remove the cannabis trade just by clearing out Pusherstreet. It will find other channels and be spread out across town. The opportunity to outlaw the cannabis clubs will make it easier for us to get to the dealers, however, Vittrup said in a statement to Jyllands-posten.