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VIRAL VIDEO: Cops hit female pro-choicers

Steve Tallantyre
Steve Tallantyre - [email protected]
VIRAL VIDEO: Cops hit female pro-choicers
Three women were pushed, hit and struck with truncheons before being arrested. Photo: YouTube

Footage showing police striking unarmed women with batons before arresting them in Madrid on Friday after a protest against abortion reforms has been widely shared on the internet.

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The five minute clip was filmed by the group Periodismo Humano at the 500-strong protests in front of the Ministry of Justice.

Demonstrators from the group 'We Decide' had called the protest to demand the resignation of Justice Minister Alberto Ruiz- Gallardón, and the withdrawal of the government’s draft law which will restrict access to abortions in Spain..

It passed without incident but clashes took place afterwards in plaza Jacinto Benavente.

On the video, shouts can be heard, then police can be seen apparently pouncing on one of the protesters, leading to a number of confrontations.

Police grab, push and strike the women with batons, knocking them to the ground.

One protestor can be heard shouting “Son of a bitch, don’t touch me,” before being pushed and hit by truncheon-wielding officers.

Spanish online daily The Huffington Post reported police sources as saying that three women were arrested for resistance, disobedience and assault on a law enforcement officer.

Protests against the new draft law, which is expected to be passed, also took place in Barcelona.

The bill has been fiercely criticized by opponents who claim that it will increase the number of clandestine abortions and take Spain back to the 1980s.

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