STOCKHOLM (AP) – Swedish police on Saturday stormed hundreds of people who had gathered in central Stockholm to protest coronavirus restrictions set by the Swedish government.
Swedish authorities said the demonstration – the country’s first major protest against coronavirus restrictions – was illegal, as it was held without permission.
Stockholm police said on their website that they decided to stop the rally just after it started when the number of participants exceeded the limits for public meetings under Swedish pandemic laws.
Video footage in Swedish media showed a considerable number without collecting masks in Medborgarplatsen Square, not far from the old town. Local media estimated that between 300 and 500 people attended.
Swedish newspapers Aftonbladet and Expressen reported that the demonstration was largely dispersed peacefully, but six police officers were injured after the blast with some protesters who did not want to leave.
Aftonbladet said the rally was organized by a group called Freedom Sweden, which said it believes COVID-19 rules restrict human freedom.
“There are so many people in Sweden who have had enough of these restrictions, who are really unfounded, and they want to stand up and show that we no longer agree,” Freedom Sweden organizer Filip Sjostrom told Express.
According to Expressen, protesters included far-right activists, people against vaccines and some families with children.
At the start of the pandemic, Sweden, unlike most other European countries, opted to keep its society largely open with few restrictions, but the government has taken a substantially tougher stance in recent months.
Sweden has recorded more than 13,000 deaths in the pandemic, while its Nordic neighbors Denmark, Norway and Finland, which chose to impose coronavirus restrictions much earlier, have a combined death toll of 3,777 from COVID-19.
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