Toronto G20 lawsuits settled out of court

Three lawsuits claiming Toronto police used excessive force against G20 protesters have been settled out of court.

Nikos Kapetaneas, Anna Grychtchenko and Caitlin Morgan each claimed damages of $25,000.

What they actually received has not been revealed.

All three were arrested during protests at Queen's Park on June 26, 2010, while the city was playing host to a meeting of G20 leaders.

Police in riot gear moved in to break up the protest.

A photograph of Kapetaneas being kicked in the back by a police officer wearing a gas mask, was published in the Toronto Star.

Morgan claimed she was kicked during the melee.

Grychtchenko said she was thrown to the ground, hit in the face, then falsely arrested and taken to the Eastern Avenue Detention Centre where she was held for 21 hours.

The three launched lawsuits against police.

Their lawyer says the cases have been settled out of courtbut under the terms of the settlement the amount awarded will remain confidential.

The three say the decision should be seen as a victory.

"If they didn't think they did anything wrong we wouldn't be standing here and we wouldn't be getting a settlement. We live in a corporate kind of society where money does speakand people don't like to pay people off for things they did right.So if they [Toronto police] did anything right we wouldn't be here talking today," said Grychtchenko.

Toronto police say the decision to settle out of court is not an admission of guilt.