The new Turkey
Hasan Kobalay

2-apr-19

Credible allegations of torture emerged in the trial in the central Anatolian town of Kırıkkale, of 64 defendants facing charges of membership of an armed organization (referred to by the Turkish government and courts as FETÖ - Fethullahist Terrorist Organization), and attempting to overthrow the government. At the first hearing on February 16, 2017, seven of the defendants told the court at length that they had been tortured into signing statements which were false, and into naming people they claimed not to know.10 The 64 defendants include many police officers, as well as teachers and other public officials.

Human Rights Watch has obtained the court record of the hearing and interviewed the wife of one of the seven defendants who allege torture. Hasan Kobalay, 37, was the head of a Kırıkkale preschool, which was closed by decree under the state of emergency.

Hasan Kobalay told the court on February 16, 2017 that while being interrogated on November 2, 2016 at the anti-terror branch of the Kırıkkale police station he was stripped naked, blindfolded, gagged with a cloth, handcuffed and then taken to a bathroom.

According to the transcript, Kobalay told the court:

Cold water was sprayed on my body, especially on my testicles and buttocks, which are still painful… They then said "Speak!" and I said: "What shall I say?" They touched me all over, they did something to my anus, but I don't know what. It took up to an hour, and then they said we'll bring your wife and do the same to her. At that point I broke down [at this point the defendant began to cry as he recounted it] because my wife and children are the only thing in my world. Then they took me to a room and mapped out what I needed to say… "You were the 'imam' of the group." "No, I wasn't," I said. "You were," they said. "You gave teachers lessons." "No, I didn't," I said. "You did," they said…11

The transcript records that Kobalay described to the court how he was also slapped and continually threatened. He reported to the court that a doctor had seen the state he was in:

When I got to the hospital I was shaking, and I tried to tell the doctor what had happened, but the police wouldn't let me explain.12

According to the transcript, six other defendants at the same hearing told the court they had been ill-treated in custody, in order to force them to give information to the police and sign statements they subsequently retracted at the hearing. Some defendants said that they underwent cursory medical examinations in which the doctor simply looked at them
without examining them. Furthermore, they said, they were unable to speak to the doctor because of the presence of police officers.

Human Rights Watch interviewed Hasan Kobalay's wife about his ordeal:

When I visited him in Keskin prison, my husband told me what had happened to him in police custody in Kırıkkale. He had lost a lot of weight and was exhausted. He cried and said he felt ashamed. "I am finished," he said. He told me he had been tortured. I wanted to boost his morale but, how could I? He has changed completely.

When he spoke at the hearing of 64 people [defendants] it was hard to hear all he said, but he described the insults, being stripped naked in Kırıkkale anti-terror branch, being blindfolded throughout and gagged, having his sexual organs squeezed. My husband cried as he recounted it in court. He spoke for half an hour. The judge didn't stop him speaking. He let those who described being tortured speak. The police sitting in the courtroom took notes in detail, and stared at us threateningly.

Everyone watching in court cried at hearing all this and the gendarmes present didn't know what to do. The police left the room. My husband had signed a statement under pressure while in police custody, but he had rejected that statement when he was brought before the prosecutor.13

In the interim ruling on February 21, 2017, the Kırıkkale court ordered the prosecutor to investigate the allegations made by seven of the defendants, including Kobalay, and requested the security camera footage during the period they were in police detention.14 According to Kobalay's lawyer, the prosecutor's investigation is officially on-going but there is a secrecy order in place, so it has not been possible to learn any details, such as whether any police officers allegedly involved in torture have been identified, and what evidence, if any, including the footage, has been acquired by the prosecutor.15

Source:HRW, In Custody Police Torture and Abductions in Turkey