Criminal complaint against police chief and police officers for 'torture'

2024-12-23 09:22:11


	ISTANBUL - Hebun Hakan Akkaya, the lawyer of A.K., who was arrested in connection with the incident in which he was detained as a witness, filed a criminal complaint against the police chief and the relevant police officers for "torture" and demanded arrest against the possibility of tampering with the evidence.

	A.K. and Azerbaijani B.T., who were detained as witnesses after the armed attack on Eyüp Otomotiv and Güvenler Otomotiv in Sultangazi district of Istanbul on 9 December, were arrested by the court on 19 December on charges of "threatening", "damaging property" and "violating Law No. 6136". What A.K. and B.T. were subjected to at the police station was reported as "Allegation of torture at the police station: Director beat them, chief recorded them".

	 

	A.K.'s lawyer Hebun Hakan Akkaya applied to Istanbul Gaziosmanpaşa Chief Public Prosecutor's Office and demanded an investigation against Sultangazi District Police Chief A.K. and related police officers on the charges of "deprivation of liberty", "abuse of duty", "creating evidence of crime and torture". In the application, it was stated that the persons could obscure the evidence since they are civil servants and they were requested to be arrested.

	 

	ASSAULT REPORT NOT IN THE FILE

	 

	In the report it was stated: "When we saw the client at the courthouse, we noticed that his right wrist was swollen. When we asked him where and by whom this was done, he stated that he was taken to the room of Sultangazi Police Chief and his hands were handcuffed from his feet to his wrist. The clients stated that they were personally beaten by Sultangazi Police Chief A.K. in his office and that the complainants in the file were present during the beating and that the police station chief M.Ö. filmed these events. In addition, the clients stated that they were taken to Bayrampaşa State Hospital where they received a report on the beating. However, when the file in Gaziosmanpaşa Public Prosecutor's Office was examined by us, it was seen that there was no report in the file of the client."

	 

	CPC AND TCK ARTICLES REMINDED

	 

	The Code of Criminal Procedure (CPC) and the Turkish Penal Code (TCK) stipulate that "Statements obtained through prohibited procedures cannot be considered as evidence even if they are given with consent. A statement taken by law enforcement officers without the presence of a defence counsel cannot be taken as a basis for a judgement unless it is verified by the suspect or defendant in the presence of a judge or court. A public official who commits acts against a person which are incompatible with human dignity and which cause physical or mental suffering, affect his/her perception or will power, or humiliate him/her shall be sentenced to imprisonment from three to twelve years." 

	 

	The application referred to the articles and drew attention to the "violation" of the articles. In the application, it was stated that A.K. was kept at the police station for more than two hours without a detention warrant and therefore the offence of "deprivation of liberty" was committed.

	 

	REQUEST FOR EXAMINATION OF CAMERA RECORDINGS

	 

	In the application, it was noted that A.K., who was not informed of his rights during the statement, was interviewed "verbally" and it was reminded that this situation was unlawful and constituted the offence of "abuse of office". In the continuation of the application, the following statements were made: "In addition, during the torture of the client by Sultangazi Police Chief A.K., the owners of Eyüp Otomotiv and Güvenler Otomotiv companies, who are the complainants in the file, were also present in this room. For this reason, we demand that the HTS records of Sultangazi Police Chief A.K. and the camera records at the entrance to the police chief's room (Şehit Mustafa Tercan Police Station) be examined."

	 

	In the conclusion and request section of the application, it is stated as follows: "For the reasons explained above, we request and demand from your prosecutor's office to decide to conduct an investigation against the police officers in charge of the minutes of the Sultangazi District Security Directorate Peace Branch Unit and Sultangazi District Security Director A.K. for the crimes of 'deprivation of personal liberty, abuse of duty, creating evidence of crime and torture' and to carry out this investigation with confidentiality due to the suspicion of evidence obscuring due to the fact that these people are public officers, and to decide to arrest the people who committed these crimes."

	 

	MA / Ömer İbrahimoğlu