Five guardians of the Ferizli L Type Prison in the province of Sakarya have been arrested on torture charges. Chief guardians H.Y. and K.S. and guardians O.N.B., Ş.A. and B. are accused of torturing convict Selahattin İşçimen.

According to the news report appeared in the local newspaper Yeni Sakarya (New Sakarya), 48 years old İşçimen filed a criminal complaint with the Directorate General of Prisons and Apprehension Centers through his lawyer and relatives. The Directorate General informed the Ministry of Justice of the complaint. The ministry ordered the Ferizli Chief Prosecutor’s Office to launch an investigation.

The other convicts confirm that there is torture

İşçimen says that the prison officers constantly beat him up and torture him with a hot iron. The other convicts who stay in the same cell with him confirm that there is constant torture.

After inspecting the camera images in the prison, the prosecutor decided to launch an investigation about nine people on the charges of torture. Therefore, five prison officials have been arrested by Ferizli’s Criminal Court of Peace.

Turkey’s first L type prison, the Ferikli Prison was presented as an exemplary prison in December 2005, above the standards of the European Union.

According to the January-October 2008 report of the Human Rights Association (İHD), 238 people applied to the association for having been tortured during this period. 26 people died in the prisons or because of the rights violations in the prison during the same period. (TK/TB)