Party over for Christiania?

The Danish daily Jyllands-Posten turns its attention to so-called Freetown Christiania, the alternative neighbourhood founded in 1971 in the borough of Christianshavn in the Danish capital Copenhagen. For years the government tolerated the consumption of soft drugs like hashish and marijuana there. Under pressure from the liberal right-wing government, the hash dealers demolished their stalls in 2004 and since then the drug dealing has moved underground. Jyllands-Posten notes that in recent times Christiania has increasingly come to be associated with drug consumption and other types of crime. "Over the years the residents of Christiania have become so accustomed to lax and fearful authorities that the confrontation with a resolute man like director Carsten Jarlov [of the real estate authorities] came as a shock. He has announced that the party is over and that charges will be brought against a number of private individuals in the so-called Freetown unless public order in accordance with the law of the land is established."

» full article (external link, Danish)

» To the complete press review of Friday, September 5, 2008