Athens: Greek authorities have suspended a police sergeant, accused of beating two detainees last year at a central Athens police precinct.
Video footage, posted on a website and broadcast Saturday on Greek TV stations, showed the sergeant slap the two men and beat them with a stick at the downtown Omonoia police precinct in June 2006.
The men, whose identities were not released, were also forced to take turns slapping each other while two other men are heard laughing.
It was not immediately clear who recorded the images, but media reports speculated another policeman recorded the incident on his cell phone and circulated it among other officers.
Greek Prime Minister Costas Caramanlis described the incident as an ''affront to the Greek state, condemned by everyone.''
''We are shocked ... No one has the right to abuse the law and no one has the right to tarnish Greece's image,'' he said.
The sergeant, who was not identified, was suspended and police have launched an internal investigation. A precinct chief was also suspended, but it was not believed he was involved in the beating.
Private MEGA TV quoted the sergeant as telling an investigating officer that he and his colleagues were ''just having fun.'' Public Order Minister Vyron Polydoras has vowed to punish those involved in ''this unacceptable act''.
''Detainees must be treated with the utmost respect in accordance with the constitution and their legal rights. Those responsible will be punished in an exemplary way,'' he said in a written statement. The beatings allegedly occurred after the two men were detained on suspicion they stole a bag from an elderly woman.
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