Arrested Britons freed in Genoa

The funeral of Carlo Giuliani, shot dead by police during riots in Genoa, took place on Wednesday

LONDON, England -- Italian police have released four Britons arrested after street violence at the G8 summit in Genoa, the British Foreign Office says.

Jonathan Blair, 38, and Daniel MacQuillan, 35, have left the police station where they were being held and Mark Covell, 33, who is in hospital being treated for internal bleeding and broken ribs, is no longer under arrest.

"They have been released and are now awaiting deportation," a Foreign Office spokeswoman told Reuters.

Nicola Doherty, 27, has also been released but her boyfriend Richard Moth, 32, remains in custody.

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Relatives and campaigners complained when four of the demonstrators were not allowed to see consular staff or lawyers after they were arrested on Sunday in a raid on the headquarters of a leading protest group.

Diplomats were finally granted access earlier on Wednesday after the five had been seen by an examining magistrate.

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MacQuillan and Blair -- from Newport, South Wales -- and Moth, from north London, were being held at a police centre in Pavia, northern Italy.

Two other Britons arrested during the summit had earlier been freed by police.

Protesters and their relatives alleged police brutality and mistreatment after 92 people were arrested when police raided the Genoa Social Forum in the early hours of Sunday after two days of anti-summit street violence.

Italian authorities have defended the actions of the police who, they said, were faced by a section of protesters intent on violence.

Hundreds of mourners attended Wednesday's funeral of Carlo Giuliani, 23, an Italian protester shot dead by police during clashes at the summit.