COPENHAGEN: Two people were arrested on the sidelines of a weekend protest against anti-coronavirus restrictions in Denmark’s capital Copenhagen, the police said Sunday.
One person was arrested for throwing fireworks at police during the Saturday march, while another was detained over violent behavior, the police told AFP.
The rally was organized by a group calling itself “Men in Black Denmark” which has called regular demonstrations since the end of last year against what it calls the “dictatorship” of the country’s Covid-19 restrictions.
Walking through firework smoke, the protesters held torches as they moved through the city center chanting “Freedom for Denmark” and “Mette Ciao,” a reference to Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen.
Local media reported that the march took place in a “sometimes intense” atmosphere, but without major incident.
The protest came a day after a 30-year-old woman was sentenced to two years in jail for calling for violence during a previous “Men in Black Denmark” rally against COVID-19 restrictions in January.
The case provoked a debate about the sentence which commentators deemed unusually harsh for her at times ambiguous comments.
“Are you ready to walk around and smash the city in a non-violent way?” she had told the crowd during an impromptu speech.
Her sentence was originally set to one year, but the court also invoked a law passed at the end of 2020 that allowed the sentence to be doubled since “it had a background in and was connected to the Covid-19 epidemic.”
Denmark, which has been under a partial lockdown since late December, announced late February that it would ease some restrictions.
However it extended many of them until April 5, including the closure of bars, restaurants (except take-away), and most secondary and higher education establishments.
Two arrested at Denmark protest against COVID-19 measures
Two arrested at Denmark protest against COVID-19 measures
- One person was arrested for throwing fireworks at police during the Saturday march
- Denmark announced late February that it would ease some restrictions
Two killed in suicide attack targeting security forces in Pakistan’s northwest
ISLAMABAD: Two security personnel, including an officer, were killed, while multiple others sustained injuries when a suicide blast targeted their vehicle in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, a police official said.
The suicide bomber hit his explosive-laden motorbike into an armored vehicle of security forces in Sara Darga area of KP’s Bannu district, according to a local police official who requested anonymity.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but the Pakistani Taliban, or the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), have carried out similar assaults in the region in past.
“The attack had damaged the armored vehicle, causing deaths and injuries,” he told Arab News, adding that they suspected the Pakistani Taliban to be behind the attack.
Pakistan has struggled to contain a surge in militancy in KP, which borders Afghanistan, in recent years, with militant groups, particularly the TTP, frequently targeting security forces, law enforcers and government officials in the region.
Earlier this week, Pakistani Taliban militants rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into a checkpoint jointly manned by security forces and law enforcement agencies in KP’s Bajaur district, killing 11 security personnel among 12 people, the Pakistani military’s media wing said.
Islamabad accuses Afghanistan of allowing the use of its soil and India of backing militant groups for cross-border attacks against Pakistan. Kabul and New Delhi deny this.
