A group of women who were taken into custody following demonstration against Roboski Massacre has held a press conference in IHD (Human Rights Association) Istanbul Office.

The women stated that they had been subjected to harassment while in custody following a demonstration where fourteen people, ten of them women, were beaten and detained in Esenyurt district of Istanbul on January 8.

Former Democratic Society Party (DTP) Esenyurt Co-Chair Ýlkay Özkan Kartal who also suffered police violence during custody said that “The police started to harass women to disperse the crowd even before the speeches ended. We linked arms to stand against the police but they pulled us from the crowd and beat us on the muddy ground. They pulled our hair while forcing us into the police car.”

Remarking that these practices were used to repress people who side with democracy, Kartal underlined that they would never bow to these abuses.

Making a speech on behalf of the women, Tülay Korkutay pointed out that they were accused of not only opposing the law on meetings and demonstrations but also of “making propaganda for a terrorist organization” and “staging an illegal demonstration”.

Korkutay added that Sosyalist Dayanýþma Platformu (Socialist Solidarity Platform) reporter was also beaten and taken into custody during the demonstration.