The Voices of the People movement organized a demonstration on Austurvöllur parliamentary square on Saturday, the 16th Saturday in a row, in spite of Prime Minister Geir H. Haarde’s announcement on Friday that he supports elections in spring.
From the demonstration on October 8, 2008. Copyright: Icelandic Photo Agency.
Journalist Magnús Björn Ólafsson addressed the crowd, counting thousands of people, criticizing those who stoned police officers last week and tried to set the Althingi parliament building on fire, Morgunbladid reports.
Ólafsson said that a small group of people had almost managed to destroy the hard work of thousands of peaceful demonstrators, whose aim had been to construct a new and better society.
Demonstrations were also held in Akureyri and in the Mývatn region in the northeast, where attendees demanded the immediate resignation of the government, the Central Bank governors and the director of the Financial Supervisory Authority, as well as in Ísafjördur in the West Fjords and Egilsstadir in the east. All demonstrations were peaceful.
Yesterday, a few hundred people assembled at Laekjartorg square in downtown Reykjavík to encourage their fellow countrymen not to resort to violent measures while protesting in the hopes that Iceland will remain a peaceful country.
Many of the demonstrators wore orange ribbons, which have become a symbol for peaceful protests. Policemen and their families, who participated in the demonstration, wore blue ribbons and one child was dressed in a sweater reading “My Dad is a Cop.”
Following the clash between protestors and police last week, some individuals posted the addresses of police officers on the internet, encouraging people to harass them and their families. The act raised anger among police, their relatives and the general public.
Click here to read more about the violent outburst following protests last week.
