Ethnic violence becoming part of Australian Open tapestry
Jan 20, 2010, 1:56 GMT
Melbourne - Like clockwork, ethnic trouble has flared during the first week of the Australian Open, with police now saying that two members of a Croatian gang tossed out of the grounds on opening day are facing murder charges.
Melbourne media reported that the unidentified pair were among a group who marched along the Yarra river to Melbourne Park taunting passersby, making Nazi and fascist salutes and at one point letting off a flare. They jostled and spit upon a photographer from the local Herald-Sun newspaper.
The group of approximately 60 people eventually clashed with security staff, who tossed of them out of the tennis complex. Eight others were denied entry for possessing flares.
The trouble followed a chair-throwing disturbance a year ago between Serbian, Bosnian and Croatian factions, who have turned the Grand Slam event into their own battleground at recent editions.
'It's disappointing that people come along and are only there to disrupt the game and the tournament,' a police official said. 'We don't appreciate that at all.'
Croatian community leaders have blamed the media for playing up the incidents.
Jan 20, 2010, 1:56 GMT
Melbourne - Like clockwork, ethnic trouble has flared during the first week of the Australian Open, with police now saying that two members of a Croatian gang tossed out of the grounds on opening day are facing murder charges.
Melbourne media reported that the unidentified pair were among a group who marched along the Yarra river to Melbourne Park taunting passersby, making Nazi and fascist salutes and at one point letting off a flare. They jostled and spit upon a photographer from the local Herald-Sun newspaper.
The group of approximately 60 people eventually clashed with security staff, who tossed of them out of the tennis complex. Eight others were denied entry for possessing flares.
The trouble followed a chair-throwing disturbance a year ago between Serbian, Bosnian and Croatian factions, who have turned the Grand Slam event into their own battleground at recent editions.
'It's disappointing that people come along and are only there to disrupt the game and the tournament,' a police official said. 'We don't appreciate that at all.'
Croatian community leaders have blamed the media for playing up the incidents.
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