President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan 22 Jan. 2013: What kind of democracy is it? This democracy will be the instrument for the purpose - it should be opened to debate. Gore democracy can never be a goal to us. We will see democracy as a tool only when we deal with science.*

‘3 prisoners have gone on a hunger strike to protest violations of rights in Elazığ Prison’
Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Mardin MP Alican Önlü has announced that three prisoners held in Elazığ Closed Penal Institution have gone on a hunger strike to protests violations of rights in prison.

Stressing that since the day it was opened, Elazığ Prison has come up with pressures, torture and ill treatment of prisoners, Önlü has brought the issue into Parliamentary agenda with a written question.

Addressing a Parliamentary question to Minister of Justice Abdulhamit Gül, HDP Mardin MP Önlü has briefly said: "In his phone call to his family, Hüseyin Bağ, staying in Elazığ Type T Prison, said that 'there was torture of every stripe in prison' and announced that he and his two other fellow inmates staying in the same ward said 'Enough is enough' and went on a hunger strike to protest the raids conducted to the wards day and night, restrictions on their access to right to health and books, their stuff being thrown on the floor, swearwords and unjust disciplinary punishments." Read the full article

Infection rate increased, only patients with oral intake, respiratory difficulties to be hospitalized
The Health Ministry yesterday (August 9) announced 1,182 new coronavirus cases and 1,103 new recoveries. The number of total cases climbed to 240,804 with 223,759 recoveries. The country's death toll rose to 5,844 with 15 new fatalities.

Compared to May, the rate of people in contact with Covid-19 patients to turn into cases rises across Turkey by 1.3 times, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said on Twitter. Turkey on Sunday confirmed 1,103 additional recoveries from the novel coronavirus, raising the tally to 223,759, according to Koca.

The country registered 1,182 new infections of COVID-19, bringing the caseload to 240,804, he added. Healthcare professionals conducted 61,446 tests for the disease in the same period, bringing the tally to over 5.26 million.

346 health workers diagnosed with COVID-19 in Diyarbakır
According to the latest figures shared by the Diyarbakır Health Platform, 346 healthcare workers, including 128 nurses and midwives, have tested positive for novel coronavirus in the province as of August 6.

The Diyarbakır Health Platform has shared the latest figures about the incidence of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) among the healthcare personnel in Turkey's southeastern Diyarbakır province.

According to the data shared by the platform, 346 health workers have been diagnosed with the virus as of August 6. The highest incidence of the disease has been recorded among nurses and midwives with 128 cases.

Erdoğan says Turkish lira volatility is temporary

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Friday that exchange rates and gold prices will settle at their right levels and that volatility is temporary, after the lira plunged to record lows on two consecutive days, Reuters reported.

Speaking to reporters after Friday prayers, Erdoğan said the main problem for the economy was the coronavirus outbreak, adding that world economies had “zig-zagged” due to the pandemic.

He said Turkey’s GDP and other indicators such as car and home furniture sales and foreign exchange reserves had increased since he came to power in 2002. “Turkey is climbing, but there are those who don’t want to see this climb,” Erdoğan said, adding that no one should try to fool people regarding the economy.

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Rating agencies warn Turkey it may need to hike rates

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Turkey mounts new defense of lira as locals snap up dollars

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Turkish football slips deeper into grip of politics, Qatar

A decision by the Turkish Football Federation (TFF) to hold the Super Cup final - between this season's Super League champions and the Turkish Cup winner - in Qatar in 2021 has left a large number of people in Turkey’s political and sports circles scratching their heads.

The move by the TFF is seen as further pushing Turkey into the arms of ally Gulf state Qatar. This will the be the first time the prestigious final is held in a country outside Turkey or Germany, which is home to millions of Turks.

The TFF has cited the pandemic as the reason for the move, but critics and opposition lawmakers know that Turkish football is intertwined with politics - and politics in the country have long been entangled with the oil and gas-rich Gulf nation. Read the full article

Sports commentator’s sexist remark sparks outrage
Turkish sports commentator Melih Şendil has apologized in the wake of public backlash after he said women do not have a place in football and that the sport was a patriarchal game on a program on TV.

Şendil said he did not like the pink jersey that Real Madrid players wore while commentating on a Manchester City - Real Madrid game played in the UEFA Champions League Round of the 16-second leg on Aug. 7, evening.

“Football is such a patriarchal game, and it suits women very well to play volleyball, but my personal opinion is that women should not be in football,” Şendil said, noting that he also considers basketball as a men’s game.

“It will sound discriminatory, and they will criticize [me for saying this], but it doesn’t matter. We are used to it. I would never let wear pink jerseys [to a team] if I were a chairman [of a football club],” he added. Read the full article

Newspaper owner faces investigation over sexual assault reports
İdris Yayla, the publisher of local newspaper Jiyan Haber in the southeastern province of Batman, faces a criminal investigation for the newspaper’s coverage of an incident involving a suicide attempt by a young woman after being sexually assaulted by a military officer.

The incident was widely covered locally and nationally by the independent media outlets after the victim of the attack, identified as İ.E., attempted suicide in Batman. Specialist sergeant Musa O. was detained as the suspected perpetrator after a Forensics report confirmed İ.E. had been raped. But Musa O. was released after being questioned.

The Batman Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office subsequently launched an investigation against Jiyan Haber publisher İdris Yayla for news reports covering the incident on the charge of “inciting the public to hatred and enmity” under Article 216 of the Turkish Criminal Code.

According to a news report by Mezopotamya News Agency, the charge against Yayla was based on three articles published in Jiyan Haber covering the incident. Yayla was questioned by the police at the Batman Provincial Police Directorate on 4 August 2020 as part of the investigation.

Jailed journalist reports Covid-19 cases at Tarsus Prison
Imprisoned journalist İsmail Çoban reported that there were five new Covid-19 cases among prisoners held at Tarsus T-Type Prison No. 3 in the southern province of Mersin. Çoban, the former managing editor of the now-defunct Kurdish newspaper Azadiye Welat who has been held at the Tarsus T-Type Prison No. 3, told his family during a telephone call on 3 August 2020 that the five prisoners who tested positive for Covid-19 were not given medical treatment.

Çoban said the prisoners were in critical condition and that they were not receiving medical treatment even though they were seriously ill for the past couple of weeks. “Our health is at serious risk. We are subject to grave rights violations. We me even lose our phone calls,” he told the family.

In April, a government-backed bill to amend the law on execution of sentences and pave the way for early release of up to 100,000 prisoners was passed in Parliament but the law excluded journalists, rights defenders, politicians and other political prisoners. On August 6, Amnesty International published a briefing, highlighting the “hypocrisy of governments including Egypt, India, Iran and Turkey, who have left prisoners of conscience to languish in appalling conditions despite widely publicized prisoner release programmes.”

Data on Covid-19 in prisons kept from public
An opposition lawmaker has criticized the authorities for not releasing updated information on the situation in prisons regarding the Covid-19 outbreak. Gamze Akkuş İlgezdi, a deputy chairperson of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), said in a statement on 4 August 2020 that the Justice Ministry has not shared with the public any information on the Covid-19 cases in prisons for 48 days.

Noting that the number of prisoners testing positive for Covid-19 had increased by 606 percent just in 15 days in April, İlgezdi complained that there was no updated information as to how many prisoners were infected now. She said an information request she made to the relevant department of the Justice Ministry was responded by a brief statement saying that this information was provided on 17 June.

“There is a growing risk at prisons but the Ministry, instead of fighting the spread of the disease, is busy with hiding cases by keeping data from the public and the press. We see numerous reports that the prisoners testing positive are not given medical treatment. These claims must be investigated immediately and the authorities must make sure that all ill prisoners have access to medical care,” İlgezdi said in her statement.

Turkey rebukes Germany for enforcing Libya arms embargo

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Cavuşoğlu criticised Germany for taking part in a “biased” European Union initiative to enforce a United Nations arms embargo on Libya, state-run Anadolu news agency reported on Thursday.

The EU naval mission, dubbed Operation Irini, was launched on April 1 to support the Libya arms embargo. "Irini is a biased operation … Germany is the host of the Berlin conference; therefore it needs to be neutral and objective," said Cavuşoğlu, after meetings with Libyan Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj and Maltese Foreign Minister Evarist Bartolo in Tripoli.

In January, Germany hosted an international conference on the Libyan conflict in Berlin, during which several countries agreed to uphold an arms embargo.Cavuşoğlu said that Germany's participation in Operation Irini would make the Berlin conference "illegitimate".

"If it (Germany) takes part in a biased operation, it will lose its impartiality," Turkey’s top diplomat said, adding Berlin's involvement makes the situation in Libya "more complicated". Read the full article

Albayrak resignation calls rebuffed by Turkey’s governing party

Senior officials of Turkey’s governing Justice and Development Party (AKP) rebuffed calls on social media for the resignation of Treasury and Finance Minister Berat Albayrak after the lira sank to a record low against major currencies.

Some Turkish social media users started a hashtag #BeratAlbayrakİstifa, meaning “Berat Albayrak resign”, on Twitter as the lira slumped on Thursday, prompting Mahir Ünal, a deputy chief of the AKP in parliament, to come to the minister’s defence.

“People who rub their hands calling for a resignation by not looking at the economic indicators but purely at the exchange rate are not acting honestly,” Ünal said. Turkey’s lira extended its record low on Friday, trading down as much as 1.2 percent at 7.32 per dollar and taking losses this year to almost 20 percent.

Expert from pro-Erdoğan organization in US joins Joe Biden campaign

The campaign of Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic Party nominee for the US presidential election in November, has appointed Elvir Klempic, the former executive director of the Turkish Heritage Organization (THO), as the national affinity and ethnic engagement director, according to the Asbarez news website.

THO is known for its close ties to the inner circle of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Leaked emails published by Wikileaks in late 2017 show that the organization was created in 2014, with the involvement of Erdoğan’s son-in-law, Berat Albayrak, who at the time was Turkey’s energy minister (currently finance minister) as a way to “camouflage” Turkey’s lobbying activities in the US.

In the emails THO’s former president Halil Danışmaz details a “roadmap” to “circumvent tax and other impediments in the laws” by hiring journalists who could get access to “American political and bureaucratic circles,” including members of Congress. These journalists would then get paid to write and publish articles in American newspapers and on news sites essentially advocating for Erdoğan’s agenda and developing opinion in legislative circles. Read the fulll article

Turkish police ill-treatment of detainees needs decisive action

Decisive action needs to be taken over the Turkish police’s ill-treatment of detainees, the Council of Europe said in a report published on Wednesday. The report by the council’s Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) laid out its findings from an ad hoc visit to Turkey in 2019 to examine the treatment and safeguards afforded to detainees.

The CPT said that, compared to the findings of the 2017 visit, the severity of alleged police ill-treatment appears to have diminished. “However, the frequency of allegations remains at a worrying level,” it said.

“The Committee stresses once again the need for more decisive action by all relevant authorities in order to combat the phenomenon of police ill-treatment in Turkey and reiterates its recommendation that a clear and firm message of ‘zero tolerance’ of ill-treatment be delivered to all law enforcement officials, from the highest political level, namely the President of the Republic.” Read the full article

Turkish lira slides to record low on concerns for financial stability

Turkey’s lira dived to a record low against the dollar as investors sold their holdings on concern that a currency crisis in 2018 might be repeated.

The lira fell to as low as 7.277 per dollar in afternoon trading in Istanbul, extending losses since the start of the week to almost 5 percent. It traded down 3 percent at 7.25 per dollar as of 1:10 p.m. local time.

The Turkish central bank has slashed interest rates to below the annual rate of inflation, in line with government orders, forcing it to sell tens of billions of dollars of its foreign currency reserves to protect the lira’s value. That policy is not sustainable, economists say, pointing to the bank’s depleted reserves and a borrowing boom initiated by the government.

Yields on Turkey’s benchmark 10-year lira bond jumped 80 basis points to 14.22 percent on Thursday. That compared with yields of 11.9 percent 10 days ago. The central bank has set its benchmark interest rate at 8.25 percent and annual consumer price inflation is 11.8 percent. Read the full article

European anti-torture committee reports allege abuse in Turkish detention facilities

The Council of Europe’s Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) on Wednesday published reports on its 2017 periodic visit and 2019 ad hoc visit to Turkey, raising several allegations of abuse of detainees at the hands of the Turkish authorities.

“The main objective of the 2017 and 2019 visits was to examine the treatment and conditions of detention of persons detained by the police/gendarmerie,” the Council of Europe said in a statement. “To this end, the CPT’s delegation interviewed hundreds of persons who were or had recently been held in police custody, including on suspicion of terrorism-related offences, in the Ankara, Diyarbakır and İstanbul area.”

The reports noted ongoing problems of arbitrary treatment, ill-treatment, unhealthy prison conditions, overcrowding, torture and harassment by officials, outlining the details of several such allegations.

“The CPT also remains concerned about the existence of legal restrictions regarding access to a lawyer during the initial phase of police custody for certain serious crimes, and it emphasises the importance for the prevention of ill-treatment of guaranteeing such access from the very outset of police custody,” the 2019 report noted.

“Further, despite the specific recommendations repeatedly made by the Committee after previous visits, the system of mandatory medical controls at the outset and end of police/gendarmerie custody remained fundamentally flawed,” it added.

“Moreover, the CPT notes with great concern that, in the same way as during previous visits to Turkey, the health-care services in the prisons visited were poorly resourced. For instance, at Silivri Prison No. 5 and Maltepe Prison No. 3, holding some 2,800 and 2,500 inmates respectively, there was only one doctor and five nurses. At Şanlıurfa T-type Prison No. 1, there was only one doctor and four nurses for almost 1,600 prisoners.”

“Moreover, several persons claimed that they had been threatened not to show their injuries by police officers present during medical controls.”

The 2019 report said “the problem of prison overcrowding remained acute, and the steady increase in the size of the prison population already observed in the mid-2000s continued. … Consequently, a large number of prisoners in these establishments did not have their own bed and had to sleep on mattresses placed on the floor.”

It also added that “all prisoners were being held in solitary confinement for most of the time (i.e. 159 hours out of 168 hours per week, including 24 hours per day at weekends). In the Committee’s view, such a state of affairs is not acceptable.”

The committee also underlined that its previous calls for an overhaul of Turkey’s detention regime were ignored by the government.

Source: https://www.turkishminute.com/2020/
08/05/european-anti-torture-committee-reports
-allege-abuse-in-turkish-detention-facilities/

HRFT Documentation Center Daily Human Rights Report 1-31 July 2020:

(07/317) Torture and Ill-Treatment in Prison…

It is learned from the news coverage of July 28, 2020 that, Önder Poyraz, an ill-prisoner in Şırnak T Type Prison was being kept in a solitary cell and his medication was not given regularly .

07/309) Testimonies on Allegations of Torture Under Custody in Ankara After July 15 Coup Attempt…

Erhan Doğan, a history teacher who was detained on July 24, 2016 in Ankara, following the coup attempt on July 15 that year; has statements on torture and ill-treatment that he was subjected to under custody which are covered in news reports on July 27, 2020: “When I and other colleagues were taken to Anti-Terror Department, a police chief said ‘police officers, move away’. When the police officers moved away, they started to beat us with kicks and punches

They asked the principal of the private teaching institution and when I said that was me, they took me out of others and got in a dark corridor. (…) They took me sports hall. It was a big, closed sports complex. They made everybody wore orange t-shirts in the sports hall. Read the full article

(07/287) Person Subjected to Police Violence in Istanbul…

It is learned from the news coverage of July 25, 2020 that, a person named Nihat Izsiz and his friend, had a quarrel with police officers in a restaurant and were subjected to physical violence of the police. It is learned that 2 people got injured at their faces due to physical violence.

Nihat Izsiz stated the following: “I was with a friend and we were going to take my motorcycle to get repaired. But we first wanted to eat at a place. When we were eating at the restaurant a group of traffic police officers came to us and said ‘your motorcycle is too loud’. I said them that I was already taking it to get repaired. But they insulted us. Then a group of undercover police came to us. 4 or 5 of them attacked us by using pepper spray.

They wanted to get me down on the ground and to handcuff me. I did not get on the ground and they forced me to do so, then they beat me and sprayed pepper gas to me while I was on the ground. They kicked me at the eye. I shouted ‘save me’ after they kicked me. Some of the shopkeepers intervened but the police officers did not listen to them. Then they took us to the police station where I was also beaten too. They kicked my friend at the head with gunstocks. He has 6 pieces of suture on his head”.

(07/289) Torture and Ill-Treatment in Prison…

It is learned from the news coverage of July 25, 2020 that, prisoners in Ağrı Patnos L Type Prison were not given drinking water, and tap water and food given to them were not hygienic.

It is learned from the news coverage of July 25, 2020 that, prisoners in Osmaniye T Type Prison No 2 were not given cleaning supplies to be protected from Covid-19 pandemic; and wardens do not wear face masks. It is also stated in the news reports that social and cultural rights of prisoners were being restricted and prisoners were not given Yeni Yaşam newspaper.

(07/271) Person Subjected to Physical Violence of the Police in Istanbul…

It is learned from the news coverage of July 23, 2020 that, a person named Serdar Turgut was subjected to physical violence of the police in Beyoğlu district of Istanbul on July 7, 2020.

It is stated in the news reports that two undercover police officers came to Serdar Turgut while he was selling street food with his mobile stall and asked him to show his ID card; and then they took his stall; Serdar Turgut was followed by police officers when he moved away from that point and he was subjected to physical violence of the police officers

It could be seen from the footage of a surveillance camera that a police officer forces Serdar Turgut to lay down on the ground while another officer kicks him at the face. It is learned that the police intervened people around the scene. It is learned that another person, Muhittin Kaya was subjected to physical violence of the police for he was recording police violence with his phone, and that he was detained. It is reported that Muhittin Kaya was forced to delete the video on his phone at the police station.

Serdar Turgut stated the following: “One of them tied my hands behind my back while the other one was kicking and punching my face. People at the park reacted against the police and one police officer said ‘I am the chief, I am the judge here. I rule everything here’. Then many other police officers came”.

Muhittin Kaya states the following: “I started to record a video. The guy was on the ground and the police was hitting at his head. One of them clamped his head with his arm, and another police officer were hitting him with his helmet. I was recording everything. A watchman noticed me. He directly handcuffed me behind my back and forced me to lay down on the ground. He dragged me to where the others were and continued to hit me on the ground. They detained me. They wanted to get my phone at the station. I said that it was not legal but five police officers surrounded me and they forced me to delete the video recording”.

(07/272) Asylum Seekers Subjected to Torture and Ill-Treatment at Gendarmerie Station in Van…

It is learned from the news coverage of July 23, 2020 that Khales Arsan, an Iranian citizen who was alleged to illegally cross from Iran to Turkey through a village of Çaldıran district of Van on July 19, 2020 and who was went missing since then, was kept under custody in border post. The name of mentioned village and the name of border post is not stated in the news reports. It is claimed in the news reports that Khales Arsan was subjected to torture and ill-treatment under custody at the border post. It is also stated in the news reports that 19 other asylum seekers who were under custody at the same border post were also subjected to torture and ill-treatment and 20 people were left at Iranian border after being kept at the post for 3 days.

Khales Arsan states the following: “There were 19 asylum seekers at the station I was taken to (…) A gendarmerie commander and 6 soldiers beat us with clubs, hammers and iron bars at the station. They were taking one of us to beat each time. They tortured us like this for 3 days”.

(07/242) Torture and Ill-Treatment Under Custody in Istanbul…

Lawyers Gökhan Soysal and Ezgi Önalan, who went to Kadıköy Iskele Police Station to meet the people who were detained in police intervention against the commemoration for Suruç massacre, held in Kadıköy district of Istanbul on July 20, 2020; are detained by physical violence while they demanded to meet detainees.

It is learned that Ezgi Önalan was handcuffed behind her back although she introduced herself as lawyer, and she was injured at face due to physical violence she was subjected to. It is reported that Gökhan Soysal was forced to face down on the ground and he was stepped on the neck.

(07/241) Torture and Ill-Treatment in Prison…

It is learned from the news coverage of July 20, 2020 that, letters of Didem Akman, who is on hunger strike to demand an end to right violations in Izmir Şakran Women’s Prison, addressed to her family, are not sent by prison administration on the grounds of ‘containing propaganda for an illegal organisation’.

(07/215) Torture and Ill-Treatment Under Custody in Istanbul…

It is learned that 3 people who were detained in the operation after the attack to a police car in Bağcılar district of Istanbul on July 18, 2020, which killed 1 police officer and injured 1 police officer; were subjected to torture and ill-treatment under custody. It is reported that photographs stated to be of these 3 people who were subjected to torture and ill-treatment were shared on social media.

(07/217) Torture and Ill-Treatment in Prison…

It is learned from the news coverage of July 17, 2020 that, 8 prisoners in Urfa T Type Prison No 2 were transferred to other prisons under coercion on July 14, 2020. Transferred prisoners are: Kasım Karataş, Zübeyir Paksoy, Zana Mazak, Emrullah Oruç, Ferhat Çiftçi, Mehmet Çelik, Mehmet Tahir Özcan, Orhan Orak.

(07/173) Torture and Ill-Treatment in Prison…

It is learned from the news coverage of July 15, 2020, a 75 years old ill-prisoner Ramazan Özyiğit, was being kept in a solitary cell in Van High Security Prison.

(07/132) Person Subjected to Torture and Ill-Treatment in Izmir…

It is learned from the news coverage of July 10, 2020 that, a person named Sedat Aşhin was subjected to physical violence of the watchmen on July 9, 2020 in Karşıyaka district of Izmir; and he was subjected to torture and ill-treatment at the police station where he was taken to after being detained.

Sedat Aşhin states the following: “I was stopped for ID check by 4 watchmen on patrol. I did not have my ID card with me at that moment. And I said them ‘My ID card is in my shop, it is too close, let me go and get it’. But they did not believe me. They said ‘You ran away when you saw us yesterday’ and swooped down on me. They sprayed pepper gas in my eyes. They put me in the patrol car by using violence. Then they took me to Bostanlı Police Station, I have hardly regulated my breathing when we got there. I shouted, ‘’What did I do to you, why are you treating me like this’. 4 watchmen swooped down on me again, they used physical violence to handcuff me behind my back. The police chief and other officers did nothing although I asked for help. They just turned their backs”.

It is learned that Sedat Aşhin got a medical report evidencing the torture and ill-treatment and will make a criminal complaint against officers in charge.

(07/084) Torture and Ill-Treatment Under Custody in Diyarbakır…

It is learned from the news coverage of July 7, 2020 that, Tacettin Kardaş who was detained for his social media posts in 2015, in Sur district of Diyarbakır on June 30, 2020 was subjected to torture and ill-treatment at Diyarbakır Gendarmerie Command.

Tacettin Kardaş stated the following on torture and ill-treatment that he was subjected to: “They detained me and took to the station. While we were on the way, soldiers with Nationalist Movement Party emblems on their guns, insulted me in the vehicle for I did not bend my neck. They mentioned my 2 children who joined HPG and then died, and they said ‘We killed two of your children, and we will kill the third one. You will receive the dead body of your child. They were committing violence against me while they were saying these. Torture and insults went on at the station”.

(07/071) Torture and Ill-Treatment in Prison…

It is learned from the news coverage of July 6, 2020 that, in Ağrı Patnos L Type Prison, the water given to prisoners was not hygienic, despite of Covid-19 pandemic; and the packages sent to prisoners were not delivered.

It is learned from the news coverage of July 6, 2020 that, in Hatay Iskenderun T Type Prison, prisoners were forced to stand in military order during roll-calls; 6 prisoners were kept in a ward for 3, prisoners were not given hygiene supplies, and letters of prisoners were not sent.

It is learned from the news coverage of July 6, 2020 that Ahmet Aydın, a prisoner in Karaman Prison was kept in a solitary cell for 27 months.

(07/049) Torture and Ill-Treatment in Prison…

It is learned from the news coverage of July 3, 2020 that, Ekim Polat, an ill prisoner in Manisa Akhisar T Type Prison, was being kept in a solitary cell and was threatened to death by wardens. It is claimed in the news reports that wardens say to ordinary prisoners “he is an enemy of the state, you can do him whatever you want”, about Ekim Polat.

(07/051) Person Subjected to Violence of Watchmen in Istanbul…

It is learned that lawyer Cihat Duman, who warned the watchmen committing physical violence to people while they were intervening a scene in Beyoğlu district of Istanbul on July 5, 2020; was also subjected to physical violence of the watchmen and was detained after being handcuffed behind his back. It is learned that Cihat Duman got a medical report evidencing torture and ill-treatment and made criminal complaints against officers.

Lawyer Cihat Duman made a statement and described torture and ill-treatment that he was subjected to: “2 citizens were being beaten and sprayed pepper gas on their faces by a group of 10-15 men dressed as watchmen in Mis Street of Istiklal Avenue; and while they were being detained I went nearby and said ‘You will be judged at penal court. What you do is crime, it is ill-treatment. I am a lawyer and I know that these acts certainly turn against officers in accordance with related legal foundation. And then I was attacked by two of them. I was handcuffed behind my back.

They did not remind me my rights. And they did not declare the accusation. Although I said I was a lawyer, they did not check my ID and did not give the bar association a notice. I was taken to Beyoğlu Police Station with two other detained people, and when I asked them why I was being detained they said that I was going to pay for insulting Süleyman Soylu and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan; and they twisted my arm, squeezed the handcuffs and pushed my neck to bend it down while they were making me walk to the police station. It became clear that these persons dressed as watchmen were really watchmen, after police officers at the station accepted them in.

They did not open my handcuffs for a long while and did not start the procedures for almost 7,5 hours. I got a medical report at Taksim İlkyardım Hospital, evidencing injuries and bruises on my body. Besides, they continued psychological torture by making me to wait standing, did not let me talk to others, and constantly teasing me and other people under custody”.

(07/052) Journalist Subjected to Torture and Ill-Treatment in Ankara…

It is learned that Artı TV Ankara correspondent Sibel Hürtaş, who was detained by the police while she was following the protest of bar associations in front of Grand National Assembly on July 3, 2020; got a medical report evidencing torture and ill-treatment that she was subjected to and will make a criminal complaint against officers in charge. Sibel Hürtaş was released on the same day, after she was fined for violating social distancing rule.

Sibel Hürtaş stated the following: “I was taken to Kavaklıdere Police Station and I was being choked all the way. The huge police officer next to me put his arm on my neck and throat and closed my mouth and nose with the other hand. I shouted, ‘I cannot breathe, I don’t feel good’. Then he put the other hand on my mouth and nose and yelled ‘Die, die’ at me. They took their hands on my mouth and nose afterwards but my neck and throat was being squeezed until we were at Kavaklıdere Police Station. My lawyers were not allowed to reach there”.

Source: https://en.tihv.org.tr/