On Friday, two Eritrean demonstrations will be organized at the Storting. The police are prepared, although the demonstrations will probably be less extensive than first thought.
Friday 26 April at 12:28 p.m
– The first demonstration has so far gone quietly. We do not expect it to develop in any other way during the day, says operations manager Per Ivar Iversen in the Oslo police district to NTB.
The first demonstration of the day, which was held by the opposition against the Eritrean regime, has already been going on since 8 o’clock on Friday morning.
Iversen estimates that between 60 and 70 protesters critical of the regime took part.
At 11 o’clock the other side, i.e. the pro-regime demonstrators, take their place outside the Storting.
Less extensive than expected
Operations manager Iversen says that he has no specific indications of how many demonstrators will participate in total.
According to Avisa Oslo, the police have sent an information letter to the business community in the area around the Storting ahead of the demonstrations, where they state that they expect 1,000 participants.
On Wednesday morning, the police inspector sent a new letter to the business community, reports Nettavisen.
– New information indicates that the event will probably be somewhat less extensive than previously thought, and that the risk of clashes has been reduced, the police write in the letter.
After the two demonstrations have finished at 2 p.m., a press conference will be organized by the Norwegian-Eritrean Cooperation Organization in Norway at Pressens Hus in Oslo. Operations manager Iversen confirms to NTB that the police are aware of the press conference.
The police are prepared
Ahead of the demonstrations on Friday, there has been great uncertainty about how the events will be carried out.
There has long been unrest in the Norwegian-Eritrean community, which is rooted in a different attitude towards the regime in Eritrea.
In autumn, riots broke out in Bergen in connection with a Norwegian-Eritrean commemoration, when counter-demonstrators appeared who accused the organizers of supporting the regime.
Operations manager Iversen will not go into detail about how the police are rigging up in connection with the demonstrations on Friday, but he says that they are prepared for what is to come.
– This probably does not affect people traveling in central Oslo. Outside the Storting, there are markings almost daily, so this is not unusual, says Iversen to NTB.
Tags: Prepared
