BERLIN — (CNN) German authorities have identified 31 people — 18 of them asylum seekers — as suspects in violence in Cologne on New Year’s Eve, one of several such incidents reported on the same date in other European cities.
Six women in Zurich, Switzerland, told authorities they were “robbed from one side, [while] being groped … on the other side” by groups of men described as having dark skin, according to a Zurich police statement released Friday.
And in Helsinki, Finland, police said they are investigating two possible criminal offenses related to New Year’s Eve harassment centered around “a gathering of asylum seekers.”
Both the Zurich and Helsinki allegations became public well after the incidents took place. That’s not the case for the mob sex attacks and muggings in Cologne, where police spokeswoman Stefanie Becker told CNN that more than 121 criminal complaints have been filed relating to the mass assaults, including two alleged rapes.
The Cologne suspects include nine Algerian nationals, eight people from Morocco, five from Iran and four from Syria, German interior ministry spokesman Tobias Plate said. Two are German citizens, while one each are from Iraq, Serbia and the United States.
Other German cities had similar attacks that same night, including the northern city of Hamburg, where more than 50 similar incidents were reported.
German Justice Minister Heiko Maas said Thursday that anyone convicted of such crimes could be deported if they were seeking asylum.
“The law allows for people to be deported during asylum proceedings if they’re sentenced to a year or more in prison, and that’s possible with sexual offenses,” Maas said.
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