Britons bailed after cop beaten

RIGA - A district court in Riga ruled June 16 not to detain twoBritish tourists held last weekend for allegedly beating up apoliceman on a drunken night out in the city's Old Town. They were releasedthem on bail of 8,000 lats (EUR 11,383) each.

The accused have already left Latvia, but they are required to paythe bail within a week, Ints Kuzis, head of the Riga Criminal Police,told the press.

The bail was applied to two of the tourists, aged 32 and 28. Athird Briton was granted the status of a witness. A criminalprocedure on assault against the official, causing serious injurieswas initiated against the attackers. If found guilty they may bepunished by 13 years in jail.

The police agreed with the supervising prosecutor that the courtdecision to grant bail would be appealed against. "I believethat in cases of of violence against a police officer, the suspectsshould be detained," Kuzis said.

If the British nationals will evade bail payment, they will be puton the European search by using the Schengen information system, thusenabling their arrest in any of the Schengen zone countries anddelivering to Latvia for litigation and arrest (though the UK is nota member of the Schengen zone). If the bail is paid, it will serve asa guarantee until announcing the court decision.

Riga Municipal Police head Janis Gedusevs said that the policemenwho suffered the assault is in hospital with concussion. During theattack he was in the police uniform, so there could be no doubt thatthe tourists were attacking an officer of the law, Gedusevs said.

The unarmed officer attempted to intervene when the actions ofseveral Britons caused a fracas at a bar around 8.50pm last Fridaynight. He was set upon by several men. The attack was caught on CCTV.

One Briton was detained at the scene of the incident while twoothers ran away.

This is the latest and most serious of a series of public orderoffences committed by tourists, with Britons responsible for adisproportionately large number of crimes.