Out of the 13 people who were detained during a demonstration against Afrin operation in Istanbul, 11 have been imprisoned. A woman among those jailed said she had been harassed by the police.
Turkish police staged a crackdown on a group of people who joined a demonstration in Istanbul’s Kadıköy district on Monday in protest at Turkey’s invasion operation against Afrin Canton of Northern Syria. 13 people were detained in the police attack.
The detainees, who used their right to remain silent at the police department were referred to court on Tuesday with a demand for their arrest. They denounced torture by the police during the detention.
One of the detainees, Cemal Kümiçen, said he is a furniture dealer and was taken into custody without being allowed to make an explanation. He said he was tortured and battered during detention.
Another detainee Cezmi Özdemir also said that he had been battered on the head and got injured although he didn’t resist the police. He said he was only passing by the scene of the demonstration when he was taken into custody.
Fatma Akaltun Fırat denounced torture during testimony, and verbal abuse by the police.
After giving their statements, Ali Bozkurt, Ali Karakaş, Cezmi Özdemir, Fatma Akaltun Fırat, Koray Turkay, Nurullah Ay, Özge Akyüz, Ramazan Utku, Savaş Turbap, Şengül Yüksel and Ulaş Değerliyurt were remanded in custody for “participation in illegal meeting and march with arms and not dispersing despite a warning”.
Two other detainees were released on condition of judicial control.
