Police have arrested several people in Berlin and Cologne over suspected sexual assaults against women during New Year’s Eve celebrations, police and media say. Most of the suspects were young men from Syria and Afghanistan.
At least seven people were arrested for sexual assault in the German capital, police said, as cited by Die Welt newspaper.
The incidents took place during a New Year’s Eve festival at Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate area, which drew hundreds of thousands of spectators, according to the event’s organizers.
“Cases of sexual assaults were unfortunately reported during Welcome2018 events in Berlin. We do not tolerate such acts. Suspects were arrested,” Berlin police tweeted on Monday morning.
In most cases, women were “groped between their legs or their buttocks,” Thomas Neuendorf from the Berlin police press office told Ruptly. “The suspects were predominantly young men from Syria or Afghanistan,” he said.
Bei den Veranstaltungen zu #Welcome2018 in #Berlin wurden bislang leider vereinzelt sexuelle Übergriffe gemeldet. Solche Taten dulden wir nicht!
Es wurden Tatverdächtige festgenommen. Wir haben zivile Kolleg. auf der #Festmeile, die gegen diese Taten vorgehen.— Polizei Berlin Einsatz (@PolizeiBerlin_E) December 31, 2017
In Cologne, nine women claimed to have been touched inappropriately during the celebrations, a police spokesman said on Monday, adding that three suspects were identified. German media reported that these three…