Police say that cars have been vandalised and windows broken after a demonstration through Helsinki. The ‘From the suburbs to the palace’ Independence Day protest started at Itäkeskus at 18:30, gathering around a couple of hundred people before heading into the city centre by metro.
The demonstrators carried banners criticising government austerity policies and anti-capitalist slogans.
On their way into town police were called to the metro train to check the protesters for weapons, but nobody was arrested at that stage and the train continued its journey after a five minute delay.
After the protesters left the metro, they walked through the centre of the city and, according to police, several windows were broken and cars vandalised.
Several people were detained by police, and at around 20:00 the protest was kettled on Eteläranta, close to the offices of the business lobby the Confederation of Finnish Industries.