In the restive port city of Marseille, police fear that the release of four people arrested for allegedly attacking officers during an ID check on a woman wearing an Islamic veil will undermine their fight against violent crime in the city. Marseille police say three of its officers were injured in the early hours of July 25 when a mob of some 50 people tried to prevent them from checking the identity of a woman who was wearing a full Islamic veil. Under a controversial law passed in 2010, wearing a full veil or covering one's face in a public place is illegal in France and offenders must submit to ID checks. According to the police, the woman was stopped just after midnight near a city mosque and refused to cooperate with the officers. A man accompanying her as well as a large group of bystanders came to her aid and three officers were "lightly injured" in a scuffle. After police reinforcements arrived, four people, including the 18-year-old woman named only as "Louise-Marie", were arrested for allegedly assaulting the officers -- but were promptly released with a warning on the orders of the city prosecutor. According to an AFP source, the decision was "a gesture of appeasement during the holy [Islamic] month of Ramadan." 'Astonished' "What kind of message does this send out?" asked David-Olivier Reverdy, head of the Alliance police union. "We are absolutely astonished." He told FRANCE 24 the prosecutor's decision would have "heavy consequences" in a city where "gun ...