Swedish police scuffle with activists protesting mining plans on indigenous Sami land

Washington Post/Associated Press, August 21, 2013

Protester arrested by police in Sweden while protecting Sami territory.

JOKKMOKK, Sweden — Police have removed some 50 screaming and singing activists who were blocking a road in northern Sweden to protest a British company’s plans to build an iron ore mine.

Beowulf Mining aims to start test-blasting for a potential mine in the dense woods where Sweden’s indigenous Sami population herd their reindeers.

Police spokesman Roine Norstrom says around eight people were briefly detained Wednesday on suspicion of crimes such as resisting arrest and trespassing.

He says one man was transported to a doctor after he doused himself with gasoline and threatened to set himself ablaze.

There are about 80,000 Sami people living in northern Scandinavia, including some 20,000 in Sweden.

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