Eurocops exchange arrests
01 January 1991
Eurocops exchange arrests
artdoc May=1993
Mr Williams (not his real name) and his two brothers, were
travelling by train from Brussels to support the Welsh football
team when they were arrested by the Belgian police in Kortrujk
on 17 November 1992. The three brothers and two others were met
by 11 police officers and two police dogs and taken by van to the
police station. They were photographed and details of their
names, addresses, date of birth and occupation were recorded. A
form of identification was photocopied - those with credit cards
instead of passports were treated the same. They had committed
no offence and were released. But on their return to Brussels,
along with 50 other Welsh supporters, they were again met by
police, one of whom held a 5 page computer list with names and
dates of birth. The group produced various forms of
identification, Mr Williams brother showed a credit card and was
let through even though his name was on the list.
Mr Williams also produced a credit card but was seized by the
police and taken with another man to Brussels Central police
station. He was held for 16 hours, strip-searched, and
photographed. His requests for information were consistently met
with the reply that he was being held because his name was on a
list supplied by the UK police. Before being deported he had to
sign a form in French and was not given a copy of it. Mr
Williams, along with others on the list, was handcuffed, taken
to Ostend and put on a ferry back to Britain.
Mr Williams' brother rang the British Consulate in Brussels and
spoke to the Duty Officer, who confirmed that Mr Williams was
being held because his name was on a list. The Consulate later
said that the Belgian Police held Mr Williams on a charge of
being drunk and disturbing public order and of having no identity
papers - there were, in fact, numerous witnesses to confirm that
he had not been drinking at all and that he had the same
identification as many others. It was only on the production of
identification (a credit card) that the police were able to check
his name on their list.
NCIS record incorrect information - twice
Subsequent inquiries revealed that the whole episode was related
to an earlier incident in November 1990 when Mr Williams and one
of his brother's had been to a previous football match in
Luxembourg. Then they were travelling from Ostend to Luxembourg
and were taken off a train at Arlon on the Belgian-Luxembourg
border by armed police with 30 other Welsh supporters. Their
luggage and bodies were searched, photographs taken, together
with their names and date of birth. On returning from this trip,
in 1990, the local MEP, Mr Wayne David, took up their complaint
and was told by the Belgian Ambassador that photographs had been
taken to aid the British police liaison officer in Luxembourg and
that Mr William's name had not been registered by the Belgian
police.
It transpires however the information was sent to the National
Criminal Intelligence Service in the UK saying that they had been
removed from the train for disorderly behaviour. This inaccurate
information from the 1990 incident had been sent back to the
Belgian police in November 1992 by the NCIS. Following the second
incident in 1992 the Williams family sent in a Data Protection
Subject Access Request to determine what information was being
held by the NCIS. This showed that the NCIS's football computer
index recorded that Mr Williams had caused `disorder' at Arlon
in 1990. The search showed the NCIS had recorded that:
14.11.90 Mr Williams had travelled by train with others for
the Luxembourg Wales match. Caused disorder en route,
removed, photographed and detained by Belgian Transport
Police at Arlon. A photograph taken at Arlon was also attached.
The search also showed that the 1992 incident had been added to
Mr Williams' `record':
20.11.92 Arrested for public order offenc