Suspects in attack on Ukrainian couple in Wrocław remanded in custody for three months

A court in the Polish city of Wrocław has remanded Adam C., 45, and Tomasz M., 27, in custody for three months over a brutal assault on a Ukrainian couple.

As reported by TVP Info, a Polish news channel, on 26 July, two Ukrainian citizens, a 20-year-old woman and a 21-year-old man, were assaulted in Wrocław. On 27 July, police detained two men suspected of involvement in the attack. Both were known to the police. A third suspect remains at large.

The Wrocław-Fabryczna District Court granted a request from the prosecutor and ordered Adam C. to be held in custody for three months. He has been charged with assault, violence on grounds of nationality and committing an offence as a repeat offender. He faces up to seven and a half years in prison.

Prosecutor Beata Lecka told journalists that the court "fully upheld the prosecutor's arguments as set out in the request for pre-trial detention".

The Wrocław court also ordered Tomasz M. to be remanded in custody. He has been charged with assault and violence on grounds of nationality and faces up to five years in prison.

Adam C.'s defence lawyer, Mateusz Krolikiewicz, stressed that his client denies the charges, claiming that "the dispute was unrelated to issues of nationality".

The incident took place in Wrocław on 26 July. A group of Polish men attacked a young Ukrainian couple in Wrocław, allegedly after hearing their accent.

Following the attack, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk urged President Karol Nawrocki to "break his silence on the matter".

Polish government spokesman Adam Szlapka believes the rise in cases of violence against Ukrainians is linked to the rhetoric and actions of right-wing politicians.