http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/uk/newsid_1457000/1457248.stm

BBC Wednesday, 25 July, 2001, 17:45 GMT 18:45 UK

British G8 prisoners freed


Two Britons arrested after riots at the G8 summit in Genoa
have been released by the Italian authorities amid allegations of police brutality and mistreatment.

Another two out of the five protesters from the UK held by police four days ago are expected to be releasedimminently.

The developments, reported by a local lawyer and the Foreign Office, came after the British consul in Milan, Alan Reuter, saw Daniel MacQuillan, 35, and Jonathan Blair, 38, in jail on Wednesday.

He was told the pair would be released shortly after his visit and it is thought another two will be released later, all because of legal technicalities.

There were complaints from relatives and campaigners when four of the demonstrators were not allowed to see consular staff or lawyers after they were seized in a raid on the headquarters of a major protest group on Saturday.

There are also allegations police used excessive force during the arrests.

Diplomats were finally granted access earlier on Wednesday after the five had been seen by an examining magistrate.

UK authorities criticised

The anti-capitalist group to which the protesters belonged has claimed the UK authorities have been ignoring the five to keep them out of the public eye.

Richard Moth, 32, from north London, Mr MacQuillan and Jonathan Blair, 38, from Newport, South Wales, were being held at a police centre in Pavia, northern Italy.

Mr Moth's girlfriend Nicola Doherty, 27, has been at a
separate centre in Voghera,while Mr Covell, 33, from London, is in hospital suffering from internal bleeding and broken ribs.

Mr Covell was seen once by the consul, on Sunday morning, shortly after he was admitted to hospital.

Two other Britons arrested during the summit, Lawrence Miles, 25, and John Colin Blair, 19, originally from Ballymena, Northern Ireland, had earlier been freed by police.

Campaigners for Miss Doherty and Mr Moth had complained they were being held under conditions that breached their human rights.

'From the top'

Jonathan Neale, of Globalise Resistance, the anti-capitalist group to which the pair belonged, said they had been further beaten while in police custody and that pressure was being exerted "from on top" to keep them out of the public eye.

Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said Mr Neale's claims of further beatings would be investigated.

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "If there are allegations of assault they of course need to be investigated."

Mr Neale also claimed the orders to leave the couple in limbo had come from Prime Minister Tony Blair in a bid to back his own stance on the riots.

The Foreign Office dismissed the claim as "rubbish".

Miss Doherty's parents have supported allegations by the
solicitor for their daughter and Mr Moth that they had been assaulted by police and denied consular access.

However, Italian authorities have defended the actions of
the police, who, they said, were faced by a section of protesters intent on provocation.

The couple were arrested with 88 other people when police swooped on the Genoa Social Forum (GSF) on Saturday night after two days of anti-G8 summit rioting.