Finland: Helsinki without Nazis – Mass resistance against the police
We hereby publish an unofficial translation of an analysis published by Punalippu:
On the traditional Day of Action on December 6, three demonstrations were held, as in previous years: the fascist Suomi Herää (SH) march and the fascist-led “nationalist” 612 torchlight march, and the anti-fascist Helsinki without Nazis (HIN). According to the police 1,000–1,500 people participated in HIN, 400–500 in the 612 march, and 300 in SH march. According to HIN’s own press release, 2,000 people participated. The numbers are essentially the same as in previous years. It is noteworthy that, unlike in previous years, the fascists attracted great public interest due to the participation of Teemu Keskisarja, a member of parliament from ‘The Finns’ Party, at the 612 march.
The police had already announced to the public in advance that HIN was not allowed to gather at Töölöntori because the 612 march had reserved the place first, and they had announced that HIN was allowed to gather at Taivallahti Square. Last year, the police had violently dispersed HIN and arrested over 50 protesters. At this year’s demonstration, the police stated in clear words and several times in loud voices: “The police order the demonstration to end. The crowd must disperse.” They also intensified their demand, threatening the use of force and arrests.
Despite this, the large numbers of people who participated in the HIN did not obey, but continued to maintain the HIN and adhere to their antifascist stance, and the police failed to disperse the demonstration. The mood at the demonstration was strongly anti-police. The most common chants were such as “the police protect the Nazis”. The demonstrators paid tribute and showed their support for their comrades who had been arrested in the fight against the police, as the arrest bus set off.
It is a particularly important fact that the police failed to achieve the goal of dispersing HIN, because in public they remain silent about it and focus on a secondary issue: “We succeeded in the plan, that is, we managed to keep the groups apart from each other.” Strictly speaking, the main goal of the police was to secure the right of assembly of 612, which serves the fascists and the abolition of democratic rights, and in connection with this main goal they set the goal of dispersing HIN (because it did not agree to Taivallahti Square) and finally keeping the demonstrations separate. Although the police succeeded in two of those goals, they failed to disperse the antifascist demonstration. This is the most important thing in perspective, because it prepares future successes for the antifascist forces.
When examining the success of the police, attention should be paid to three questions in particular:
First, very early on, when the demonstration was just getting organized, the police launched a vigorous attack to crush the communist and other more militant forces who were at the front line. This clearly showed who they considered their main opponents. Despite their fierce efforts, the police failed to make many arrests, which again shows their weakness, but they did eventually manage to strip most of the flags and banners from the front line.
Secondly, the police used particularly violent, illegal or ‘grey’ methods. Last year, the police were criticized for using horses as a means of attack, and the police assured that they would not do so this year. However, Yle has published a video of mounted police beating an individual protester with a baton. Another video, which HIN published on its Instagram reels, shows a police officer riding towards a protester. According to eyewitnesses, the police used a baton in the front line, which is not common at protests in Finland. Journalists were also prevented from doing their work, especially in connection with some arrests. According to reports, this happened for the first time when the police stormed the front line. Later, STT said that its cameraman had been prohibited from filming one particular arrest. Obstructing the work of journalists serves the police’s use of illegal or ‘grey’ or otherwise particularly reprehensible methods.
Third, the number of police was exceptionally large, but despite this, there were many situations where the police were weak and could easily have been forced to retreat by the crowd, and they also suffered some minor losses in various situations. The assessment of the exceptionally large number of police was repeated not only in the observations of the protesters, but also in the words of several journalists from different media outlets, in slightly different words.
Furthermore, the police’s own forces were not even sufficient, but they received official assistance from the Border Guard, which specifically shows, firstly, that the police mobilized the maximum number of their own forces. Secondly, even though the number of border guards was not huge, it is fundamentally important, as it is part of the militarization of the reaction in the current international political situation. During the past year, for example, a conversion law has been enacted, in which border guards are ordered to violate international agreements, and the conscription law has been revised by adding an article on the mobilization of reservists for refresher exercises at the border. Of the reactionary violence apparatus, the Border Guard is the most militarized, apart from the “Defense Forces”, but the mobilization of the army, which is possible according to the law in Finland, would have given too harsh an image. Using border guards as official assistance emphasizes the importance of antiimperialism in the antifascist struggle.
Although the police achieved several of their goals and the antifascists failed in their main goal, which was to deny the 612 the right to assemble, the masses at the demonstration cannot be accused of a lack of will or understanding. They clearly showed that they wanted to prevent 612 from gathering, even though the police fascistically forbade it. The crowds showed that they considered the police to be the immediate main opponent, the “protector of the Nazis”, and they also showed their moral support for their arrested comrades. Even after 612 had set off, numerous crowds rose up in various places to harass the 612 march, the latest at the Hietaniemi cemetery. The masses cannot be accused of a lack of will.
In order to prepare for future antifascist successes, it is necessary to firmly grasp the unwavering fighting will of the masses, to unleash their activity even more in the struggle and to direct it into effective combat action to achieve the goals. The communists have shown themselves to be the most willing and ready to throw themselves into the front line, they are disciplinedly organized and they go into battle with a clear awareness of the essential issues of the antifascist struggle, especially the main opponent, which is the rotten and weak bourgeois democracy and its police forces that protect the fascists. Only this understanding makes it possible to struggle effectively against fascism, and it serves the construction of a revolutionary front against Finnish imperialism.
The diverse antifascist forces demonstrated their firm and unwavering unity within the HIN, which creates confidence in the power of cooperation and serves the development of solidarity and the antifascist front. This is especially important because the fascists tried to provoke and exacerbate contradictions within the HIN, in which they failed miserably.
Thus, overall, the development outlook is very positive.
