– Due to danger to safety, life and health, the police, in dialogue with the organiser, have agreed that we ended the event and evacuated the party venue, says chief of staff in the Agder police district, Vidar Arnesen in a press release. A party organized by the Eritrean community in Kristiansand had to be evacuated on Saturday evening. In advance, the police feared that there could be unrest around the event. And several protesters turned up outside Randesund town hall on Søm, where the party was organised. And it quickly became uneasy. The party-goers were evacuated from the site by bus. Photo: Anna Rut Tørressen / news At 18.30 the demonstrators tried to topple barriers, and the police responded by using tear gas. Just after 19:00, the police wrote that the event was evacuated. – Out of consideration for safety here at the site and for others around here, we have chosen to end the event, says Jon Løken, incident leader in the police to news. Jon Løken, incident leader in the police. Photo: Tor Erik Schrøder / NTB Petros Gebregziabher has for many years fought against the Eritrean regime. He went from Oslo down to Kristiansand to protest against what he believes was a party in support of the regime. – We sent a message to the police and told them on Friday that there was going to be a party. Last night the party was moved out of the city center so that the city would not be disturbed. We have been searching all day to find out where the party will be. We found it out tonight, says Gebregziabher. news has not been able to get hold of the management of the association that organized the party for a comment. Petros Gebregziabher, in place in Kristiansand this evening. Photo: private Those who protested were approx. 200 people, most of them young people from Oslo, Stavanger and Bergen, he says. – Some of the young people I supported tried to break the barricades, then the police used tear gas, he says. He thinks it is very sad that this is happening in Norwegian cities. Here are several of those who protested against what they believe was a party loyal to the regime tonight. Photo: Privat Had to use tear gas According to the police, there were between 50 and 100 people at the party. More than 200 counter-protesters gathered outside. When the protesters tried to get through barricades and into the event, the police responded with tear gas. – They also started throwing stones, and then we want to hold them back, says Løken. – There has been a confrontation with the police when this group tried to get over the fences to get into the premises. The police do not have an overview of whether there are injured people, says Arnesen. A lot of people gathered outside the venue. The police estimated that there were in excess of 200 protesters outside. Photo: Geir Ingar Egeland / news Great atmosphere The event started at 17:00, and after a short hour there were many people outside the district hall. They handed out flyers with a message that the party had to be stopped. The atmosphere was tense and there were loud shouts from the crowd, described our reporters at the scene. The police eventually blocked off the street by the town hall, and asked people to move away. The police used tear gas on at least two occasions to get people to move away. Here the street is blocked, and the people have moved further away from the district hall. Photo: Anna Rut Tørressen / news Entrenched in block On the other side of Søm, the police blocked the road at a grocery store a little before 6 p.m. This was done because there had been reports that a group of people had entrenched themselves in a nearby block. They had expressed that they want to enter the venue where the event was held. It was also feared that these would make their way over the heath to the town hall. – The police were aware that this could occur and were quickly on the scene with significant resources to deal with the situation. The police’s primary task is that the event does not cause a danger to life, health and safety for the public and those involved, says Arnesen in a press release. There were a lot of police resources in action at Søm on Saturday evening. Photo: Geir Ingar Egeland / news The police say they have put a lot of resources into the mission, but do not want to give details of how many they have in action. But they get help from national aid resources and police from neighboring districts. – We take the situation very seriously, says Arnesen. The police further write that they have zero tolerance for violence, and do not accept street fights and disturbances as they have seen from other cities. – The police’s primary task is that the event does not cause a danger to life, health and safety for the public and those involved. Punishable conditions will be followed up by the police and may have consequences for those involved, says Arnesen. The police were prepared The police had received information in advance which indicated that there could be unrest. – Agder police district has therefore, together with Kristiansand municipality, prepared us for such a scenario, said chief of staff Vidar Arnesen in Agder police district in a press release before the event. Fences to block off the area were ready earlier Saturday. Photo: Anna Rut Tørressen / news In the past there have been episodes of violence and fights in several places between regime-critical Norwegian-Eritreans and what they believe to be regime-friendly associations. Among other things in Bergen, where stones were thrown and the police had to close parts of the city centre.
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