LILLE, France, March 11, (APP/AFP) – Five men were
detained in France on Friday on suspicion of attacking migrants in the port town of Calais while posing as police officers, prosecutors said.
The suspects, aged from 18 to 48, had been questioned since Wednesday and have been remanded in custody.
They are accused of attacking three Syrians in January near the train
station at Calais, where thousands of refugees and other migrants have
travelled hoping to make it across the Channel to Britain.
A police source said the attackers used iron bars and pickaxe handles and had tried to make out that they were police officers.
“They have not admitted that they were disguised as policemen, but they have admitted that some of them shouted ‘Police!’ during the attack to present themselves in this way to the migrants — and they used expandable batons,” said the source.