World Sport: Spanish Interior Ministry Opens Case to Investigate Elche Police Allegedly Assaulting Barcelona Fans

According to Mundo Deportivo, Spanish Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska said that an investigation into serious or especially serious misconduct has been launched after police allegedly took away a flag and assaulted a Barcelona fan before the match in Elche.

On Wednesday local time, Grande-Marlaska responded in Congress during government questioning from Marta Madrenas, a lawmaker from the Commitment and Promise Party, saying that before Barcelona's match against Elche on August 23, police took away a Catalan independence flag from a Barcelona fan and allegedly assaulted the person.

Previously, Spain's Interior Ministry had already initiated an investigation into the incident. Grande-Marlaska said the investigation had moved from an internal confidential review stage into a formal case process to assess whether police actions constituted serious or especially serious misconduct.

He pointed out that regardless of whether the fan was carrying a symbol such as a Catalan flag, which is completely legal, the police action could not be justified.

Madrenas also said that a similar incident involving an independence flag occurred in Alcorcón, Madrid, last Sunday. Grande-Marlaska responded that the incident needed to be considered in its specific context and that, based on the information available to him, the circumstances of the Alcorcón incident were completely different from those of the Elche incident.