Helsinki: Squatters go nomadic, soon to strike again

from email, 21 December 2007:

Today (December 20th) the Youth Department of the city of Helsinki decided not to rent the squatted house in the Vallila district to be used as an autonomous social centre.

The private insurance company, Etera, that owns the house has declared that it will not negotiate the matter any more. This means that an eviction is only a matter of time.

We choose when to fight instead of letting the cops do it. Today we decided to raise the level of conflict in a confrontational demonstration.

200 people reclaimed one of the most central crossings in Helsinki and blocked the traffic for one hour. After that the demonstration returned to the house, throwing paint bombs, and barricades were built on the street and set on fire.

Unfortunately the resources in the Helsinki squatting scene are still small and when the cops come to evict it is a battle we are sure to lose.

In this situation we choose to leave this house and go nomadic. Today we disappear to return with even more force in the near future.

Look out for headlines from Helsinki next time in January. Until then any expressions of solidarity will be warmly received in the hearts of the ever growing squatting scene of Helsinki.

Peace, love and petrol bombs
Helsinki squatters

++++

from email, 24 November 2007:

Helsinki, Finland: We get more time – 300 on the streets of Helsinki for squat Elimäki

Thursday was a day of victory for the squatting scene in Helsinki. 300 people defied the really shitty weather and gathered to demonstrate at the Youth Department of the city to show their support to the social centre Elimäki, aka squat E15.

The Youth Department of Helsinki had gathered to decide on whether to rent the squatted house on Elimäenkatu (Elimäki Street) to be used as a social centre for the youth of the city. This was the second time officials from the city came together to decide on the issue. After postponing the decision at their first meeting a month ago the board now unanimously decided to investigate the real condition of our house. The decision can be understood as an official recognition of the importance to have an autonomous space in Helsinki.

The house on Elimäenkatu has been deemed in very bad condition by the officials of the city. The statement has been supported by no real measurements or data whatsoever and on the contrary been proved wrong by the investigations we ourselves have made. This fact got recognized by the board of the Youth Department in their decision to appoint a private construction firm to investigate further on the matter.

The solution that the squatters and some people from the city have been working on is to have the house rented by the Youth Department to be used as an autonomous social centre. The house has been in this use since it was squatted in the beginning of August. After a long period of bad events on our issue the outlook is now better. But it would be overtly optimistic to say that if the investigations on our house turn out to be good the city would support us. During the last months the politicians and officials of the city have been changing their statements on whether to legalise the house or not on a daily basis. The Finnish media does not follow the game in the side-scenes where politicians and officials are manipulating each other to topple our project. We are far from securing the only social centre in Helsinki but much closer than before.

However the situation of Squat E15 develops the squatting scene in Helsinki and other Finnish cities is now stronger than ever before. We are constantly growing in numbers and a support demo of 300 people (or more) is more than we ever could have mustered half a year ago. We now have recognition for our needs and will not give up until we have this house or an equally good place guaranteed to us. Last but not least the international support we have been getting (Ghent, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Tallinn and Malmö as far as we know) means a lot to a small but growing scene like ours. The struggle for free spaces continues!

Love and solidarity
Social centre Elimäki
www.valtaus.org

See http://www.valtaus.org

And
Helsinki occupied social centre - call for solidarity 22 November
Call for solidarity! Helsinki squat threatened with eviction

Bookmark/Search this post with: