An Athens prosecutor has launched an inquiry into claims that four men, aged 20 to 24, arrested on Friday after a double bank robbery in northern Greece, were subsequently beaten in police custody.
Two of the suspects were being sought by police over their alleged involvement in the anarchist Fire Cells Conspiracy group, which has claimed a number of bombings since it emerged in 2008.
Concerns about the alleged abuse were raised after the police on Saturday released photos that showed telltale signs of digital editing to remove evidence of bruising. In the crudest case, the Photoshopping technique appears to have removed an object, possibly an officer’s arm, from around the neck and chest of one of the suspects.
Promising an inquiry, the country’s public order minister, Nikos Dendias, admitted that the photos were altered, but said that this was to make the suspects recognisable to the public.
He added that the men were injured during their arrest, a claim that has been flatly rejected by the some of the men, in statements relayed through their relatives.
