COPENHAGEN -- Danish police opened an inquiry Thursday into a group of
civilian police officers who infiltrated a protest march during last week's
EU summit by going undercover as supporters of the Palestinian cause, punks
and anarchists.
Police chief Kaj Vittrup, in charge of police operations during the summit,
said he was "profoundly irritated to see images of police officers wearing
masks and dressed as radical activists."
The Danish Stop the Violence organisation filmed at least a dozen police
officers with scarves hiding parts of their faces, wearing rings in their
noses or with mohawk haircuts during an anti-European Union march on Saturday.
The Stop the Violence footage showed the police officers, dressed to look
like activists, participating in the protest. It argued that their
appearance risked provoking other demonstrators to use violence.
Anti-globalisation activists also complained that the police officers broke
the law by wearing masks or other gear that covered their faces, while
police arrested other demonstrators who committed the same offense.
Protest organisers had reached a deal with Copenhagen police ahead of the
summit, under which civilian police officers would only be called in if
rioting broke out.
Eight peaceful organisations were held during the Copenhagen summit,
drawing a total of 15,000 people.
The chairman of the Copenhagen police association Richard Andersen was
quoted Thursday by Danish daily Politiken as saying he was "stunned" to see
the police officers in disguise.
"I had a hard time believing it was my colleagues," he said.
www.utopia2000.org
