Scuffles broke out in Ljubljana on Tuesday between police and squatters who claimed they were forcibly removed from the former Rog bicycle factory, which has been used as a squatted social and cultural centre since 2006.
The Ljubljana authorities have been trying to evict the squatters for several years in order to begin construction work to turn the building into a city-run cultural centre.
The squatters accused police of using excessive force and tear gas to get them out of the premises, Slovenian media reported.
Among those who claimed they were sprayed with tear gas was a former journalist from the newspaper Vecer, 80-year-old Ivo Ivacic, who said that he went there with his daughter to observe the eviction.
“[The policeman] pointed it straight at the eyes and sprayed me,” Ivacic told Vecer.
Representatives of one of the activist organisations that was squatting the old factory told the Slovenian Press Agency, STA, that security guards were dragging people out of the building with police standing watch.
The Ljubljana Police Department told STA that officers were called in to restore order after people would not leave the building, and that those did not follow police orders were fined.
The Ljubljana municipality described the building as derelict and dangerous, and said that construction work “on the basis of a valid building permit” should begin immediately.
“The new Rog centre will be completed within two years,” the municipality said in a statement.
Levica (Left), a Slovenian parliamentary party, expressed support for the users of the former factory, and condemned what it called the “violent behaviour of the city authorities”. Well-known Slovenian station Radio Student also voiced its backing for the squatters.
