Protester accuses G20 policeman of violence

By Kate Kelland

LONDON (Reuters) - A woman filmed being hit by a baton-wielding police sergeant during protests at the G20 summit in London said on Saturday the officer who attacked her used unnecessary violence and aggression.

In a series of television interviews, Nicola Fisher said the policeman pushed her, struck her across the face and then hit her on the legs with a baton.

A police sergeant from London's Metropolitan police was suspended on Wednesday after footage of the incident, which took place on April 2, was made public on the website Youtube.

"He pushed me, and I pushed him back. It was sort of an automatic reaction -- I was shocked that he pushed me. And then straight away, he back-handed me on my left cheek, and that made me very angry," Fisher, a 35-year-old from Brighton, south east England, told Sky television.

She said she reproached the officer, asking him what he was doing hitting a woman, and said she "probably" swore at him.

"And then he got the baton out, shook it, and hit me over the back of my leg. I stumbled backwards ... and he hit me again."

In a separate interview on BBC television, Fisher described the attack as forceful. "It wasn't a tap, he used his full force. It was very violent and very aggressive and very unnecessary," she said.

"I was just so angry and shocked that he had done it and to be honest, I really didn't think he was going to get his baton out and hit me like he did."