137 held during Elokapina protest in Helsinki

Police detained 137 protesters during a demonstration organised by environmental group Elokapina (Extinction Rebellion Finland) in Helsinki on Tuesday afternoon, police said.

The demonstrators gathered at the Kaisaniemi intersection at about 4:00 p.m. and put barricade on the road disrupting vehicular movements protesting against the state subsidies allocated to the projects harmful to the environment, the organisers said.

About 600 people bearing various banners and festoons participated in the demonstration to press home their demands for stopping funding in the anti-environmental activities.

They also chanted different slogans such as ``down with parties" and "end subsidies" during the demonstration.

The demonstrators also held the government responsible for using 4 billion euros of taxpayer money each year to accelerate the climate crisis, violating both the Paris Agreement and Finland's own climate law.

Police ordered the protesters to leave the location but they did not pay heed to the order prompting the law enforcers to arrest a total of 137 demonstrators to make the place free for traffic movement.

Police, however, said that the detainees will be released gradually after preliminary investigation.

Earlier on June 7, Elokapina staged a demonstration at Market Square in Helsinki City centre to press home its demands and scheduled to hold more demonstrations on June 25, June 28 and June 30.

Extinction Rebellion is a leaderless, decentralised, international and apolitical network using non-violent direct action and civil disobedience to persuade governments to act justly on the Climate and Ecological Emergency.