ANKARA - Abdulkadir Bozkurt, a prisoner who has been threatened with death, said he was beaten twice by 10 guards in front of cameras and called for sensitivity.
Abdulkadir Bozkurt, a prisoner in Tekirdağ Type F Closed High Security Prison No. 2, called his family on August 15 to warn them that he had been threatened with death by the prison director, chief wardens and psychologist and that he could be killed at any moment. After this warning, Bozkurt failed to call his family on August 22nd, as part of his weekly phone call rights. Worried, the family called the prison and asked why. The prison claimed that Bozkurt had not exercised his right to make phone calls of his own volition.
Worried about this situation, the family sent their lawyer to the prison.
'ATTACKED TWICE'
The family's lawyer met with Bozkurt and stated that he was denied the right to make phone calls by the guards. Bozkurt was attacked twice on August 22 between 10.55 and 11.45 pm, his lawyer said: “Bozkurt stated that he was attacked twice yesterday by 10 guards in the corridor and in front of the cameras. There were indications that Bozkurt was beaten. There were bruises and marks in various places. He also stated that he had bruises on his shoulders and hips.”
'THEY ASKED ME TO GIVE A FALSE STATEMENT'
When the lawyer asked the reason for the attack, Bozkurt said: “Two years ago, a friend of mine in the same cell was subjected to similar attacks. I witnessed him being tortured. The prison administration asked me to make a false statement, but I didn't. I told him what happened. I helped him to file a criminal complaint. After this incident, the administration's attitude towards me changed. It has been going on for two years.”
The lawyer noted that Bozkurt also said that the torture against him was likely to continue and that he called on the public to be sensitive in order to stop it.