The Istanbul branch of the Association of Lawyers for Freedom (ÖHD) organized a press conference on the beating of prisoners in Kocaeli Type F Closed Prison No 2. Speaking at the meeting held at the association's branch in Beyoğlu with the participation of lawyers, ÖHD member Berivan Bekçi stated that the guards behaved in a manner incompatible with human dignity during the ward searches. She stated that the chief warder who participated in the search provoked the prisoners. Bekçi said: “The chief warder told the prisoners, ‘You offend me, you misspelled my last name in your petitions, you will call me T. President’.” 

 

 'THEY SQUEEZED HIS THROAT'

 

Providing information on how the beating and violation of rights occurred, Bekçi stated the following: “It is stated that after the search, prisoners named M. A., M. D. and Adem Dinç were taken out of their cells and taken to another cell, and after half an hour, Adem Dinç was taken back to his old cell saying ‘You will pack your things’. It is stated that while Adem Dinç was collecting his belongings, the head warder tried to hit Adem Dinç by saying 'you will shoot a gun against my soldiers and police officers and you will not stay here comfortably', Adem Dinç raised his arms to his face to protect himself and the punch hit his arm, then two wardens held Adem Dinç's arms and one of them squeezed his throat, while the head warder hit Adem Dinç's face three more times. It is stated that due to these blows, Adem Dinç's right eye swelled up and blood collected in his eye.” 

 

'NO ASSAULT REPORT GIVEN'

 

Bekçi also stated that prisoner Adem Dinç demanded a battering report but was not given one and that he filed a criminal complaint against the guards. Bekçi stated that Mehmet Şirin Tekmenüray, one of the prisoners, was subjected to strip search as well as detector and hand searches by a group including the same chief warder, and that Tekmenüray was subjected to torture. Stating that Tekmenüray was not given a medical report despite his request, Bekçi said: “Although he wrote a petition to the prison administration 3 times, he was not given an answer. This situation is against international conventions and domestic law.”

 

CALL FOR AN EFFECTIVE INVESTIGATION

 

Bekçi emphasized that all these incidents are caused by the policy of impunity and said: “For these reasons, we call on the state to conduct an effective investigation into the torture and ill-treatment of Adem Dinç, Mehmet Şirin Tekmenüray and other prisoners and to fulfill its active obligations to impose the necessary sanctions on all those responsible. As ÖHD, we remind that torture is a crime against humanity and we inform the public that we will follow the process regarding the repeated torture and ill-treatment practices in Kocaeli Type F Closed Prison No. 2.”