OSLO, June 16 (Xinhua) -- Norway's police have prohibited a neo-Nazi group from demonstrating in July because of a danger of "serious disturbance of peace, order and lawful traffic," public broadcaster NRK reported Friday.
The Nordic Resistance Movement wants to hold a demonstration in the southern Norwegian city of Fredrikstad on July 29. The police gave permission previously at the end of May on the grounds of freedom of speech.
"We had initially said yes to this demonstration, but we have been working for a long time on checking the safety of the event. There has been a development that makes the demonstration, and especially the announced counter demonstrations, seem to be of a different extent than we assumed earlier," said Steven Hasseldal, chief of police in the Eastern Police District.
"There is a reason to believe that counter-demonstrations will be organized and potentially violent. We therefore choose to decline the application," he said.
Hasseldal emphasized the importance of the security of people in Fredrikstad.
"Considering the large number of people who are expected to be in the city center, the event causes an unacceptable risk of injury to the public, buildings, vehicles and objects," he said.
But police said the denial of the application does not imply a general rejection.
"In this case, we must make a new, independent assessment of a possible new application. This Saturday at the end of July is a day where the city is full of people. It is summer vacation and there are a lot of tourists and other big events," Hasseldal said.
Jon-Ivar Nygard, mayor of Fredrikstad, is pleased that the police have rejected the application. He stated clearly that he did not want such a demonstration in the city at a later date.
