Swedish police break up far-right extremist demonstration

Swedish police remanded 16 members of the far-right extremist Nordic Resistance Movement during a demonstration in central Gothenburg on Sunday.

Around 40 people dressed in black and carrying flags took part in the march around Sunday noon without application for demonstration permit, Swedish Television reported on Sunday.

Asked why the police broke up this demonstration while they did not interrupt a similar one that was held in Gothenburg two weeks ago, police press spokesperson Ulla Brehm said: "It is hard to compare the two events. We make judgements on a case-by-case basis and today we put a stop to it," she said.

Brehm said that 16 people were taken into custody on Sunday on suspicion of disrupting public order, but at around 5 p.m. the police announced that they would start releasing them. None are though to have arranged the demonstration and are therefore not suspected of having committed a criminal act, according to police officer Johan Ljung.

The Nordic Resistance Movement, a far-right extremist group, held its biggest demonstration to date in September this year. The march coincided with the Gothenburg Book Fair, and inspired massive counter-demonstrations and a major police operation.