Protests held in Helsinki against coronavirus restrictions

People staged several demonstrations in Helsinki city centre on Sunday protesting against the restrictive measures taken in the wake of coronavirus outbreak.

About a dozen of the demonstrations were held at Citizens’ Square and ended peacefully without any unwanted incident, said the police.

The demonstrations went smoothly and the organisers followed the instructions given by the police in advance and on the spot, said the Helsinki police in a Twitter post in the afternoon.

Police Inspector Jarmo Heinonen told the national broadcaster Yle that the protests had an overarching theme of ‘freedom’.

“These people feel that their freedom has been excessively restricted,” the Yle report quoted Heinonen as saying.

Heinonen told the Yle that the protesters were peaceful, though the police did intervene to remind the demonstrators of social distancing guidelines.

The protesters staged a number of small demonstrations in Kamppi’s Narinkka Square, a nearby area of Citizen Square, calling for the release of detained Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, said the Yle report.

The Helsinki police received advance information of about 50 demonstrations to be held in the city on Sunday.