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515 held in poland since euro launch
Polish police have detained more than 500 people , including over 150 foreigners, since the start of Euro 2012, the government said on Tuesday.
Polish police have detained more than 500 people , including over 150 foreigners, since the start of Euro 2012, the government said on Tuesday.
“There were a total of 515 individuals detained. The police were prepared for a much larger number,” Interior Minister Jacek Cichocki told a news conference in Warsaw.
The 153 foreigners detained include 92 Russians, 16 Croats, 15 Irishmen, 11 Belarusians, five Latvians, three Romanians, two Spaniards, two Serbs, two Germans, one Indian, one Hungarian, one Australian, one Portuguese and one Dutch.
“Compared to the number of people who watched the matches, the number of individuals detained for incidents is really very minimal,” Cichocki said.
Police in Poland can detain suspects for up to 48 hours but formal arrests and charges have to be approved by a court.
Data on the number of people arrested and charged with offences was not given.
According to the minister, more than 2.5 million people frequented four grounds and numerous fanzones across Poland since the competition started on June 8.
In the worst violence, police detained 190 people on June 12 in Warsaw amid clashes preceding the Poland-Russia match that ended in a 1-1 draw. Both teams have been knocked out of the tournament since.
