HELSINKI, Oct. 21 (Xinhua) -- Massive police presence forced the right wing demonstrators and their opponents apart on Saturday afternoon in the Finnish city of Tampere. Four persons were detained, said the police.
The police temporarily cordoned off the the bridges crossing the Tammerkoski river and ordered a halt to the national long haul train services for half an hour, as some of the demonstrators had entered the railroad tracks crossing the city. The trains were able to resume once the tracks were cleared, local media reported.
The rightwingers gathered in Tampere as the local court is to decide whether the Nordic Resistance Movement should be banned before the end of this month. The rightwingers also convened outside the Tampere court house.
Local media reported that there were some 200 rightwingers and some 400 counter demonstrators. The police confirmed to local media they had deployed at least 200 police officers to control the situation.
By 3 p.m. local time (1200 GMT) the police had detained four persons. The police kept the two sides at a distance of at least 50 meters. No casualties were reported.
On the national political scene, the popularity of the populist Finns Party showed a slight increase of 9.5 percent in a poll conducted by the newspaper Helsingin Sanomat. The party has no official connection with the extremists but they have backers in common.
