3. Squatters
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Squatting usually refers to a person, who is not the owner, taking possession of land or an empty house. People squat for a variety of reasons which include needing a home, protest, poverty and recreation. Many squats are residential, some are also opened as social centres. Squatting in residential property became a criminal offence in England on September 1, 2012. Squatting in non-residential property may be a civil or a criminal matter, depending upon the circumstances.
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Youth squat in Denmark demolished
The building had been used as a squatters' youth cultural centre for some 20 years.
Bulldozers have begun knocking down a building in central Copenhagen in Denmark, which has been used as a squatters youth cultural centre for some 20 years. The tearing down of the building caused violent riots at the weekend, as Julian Isherwood reports from Copenhagen:
At eight o'clock sharp, masked workers began tearing down the building with large numbers of police at the ready to prevent any trouble. The cranes and vehicles being used were all painted over to prevent recognition of the company being used for the demolition. A small group of young people looked on as the building, which has been used as a squatters youth cultural centre for some twenty years, began to crumble.
Copenhagen's been relatively quiet for the past twenty-four hours following some of the worst unrest that the Danish capital's seen for decades. Demonstrations, burning barricades and cars, torn up cobble stones, molotov cocktails and police charges up to the weekend made some parts of the centre of Copenhagen look like a war zone.
In all, some six hundred and fifty people, many of them young foreign activists, have been detained by the police. And the courts have been working round the clock since last Friday to get through all the cases. Many have been remanded in custody for up to two weeks and the foreign nationals - predominantly from Germany and Sweden - are being deported.
Demolition did begin peacefully and the police spokesman said that one reason may be that many of the ringleaders of the unrest are behind bars, but he said the large numbers of police that have dominated the city picture since the end of last week, will remain there to prevent any further disturbances.
Rellenar huecos
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