On 28 September 2008, Engin Çeber took part in a protest against police violence, carrying the picture of Ferhat Gerçek, a young man who had been shot and paralysed by a police bullet. After a press release by the protesters, he and three of his friends were taken into custody in Istanbul. The next day, they were taken to court and arrested.

Minister apologised for torture

Çeber was tortured in prison. He finally died on 10 October in the intensive unit of Şişli Etfal Hospital in Istanbul.

The forensic medical report said that Çeber died as a result of torture. Minister of Justice Mehmet Ali Şahin had accepted that torture had taken place and had issued a public apology.

It has now emerged that Çeber wrote a letter from Metris Prison a few days before he died. In the letter, he stated that he and his friends were being beaten, that they were in pain, but were not taken to hospital or the infirmary.

He wrote the letter to the Sarıyer Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office in Istanbul. He was able to smuggle it out with his cell mate Ahmet Aksu, who hid it in his shoe.

Stripped naked and beaten

The letter was then given to the Ministry of Justice’s investigative team, and it has been added to the case file.

The letter reads:

“Hello. I am writing this petition from the Metris T-type prison, No 2 B-8. I, Özgür Karakaya, Cihan Gün, and Aysu Baykal were arrested and taken to Metris Prison. When we arrived, we were stripped naked. By telling the soldiers and guards that we were terrorists and had killed soldiers, the police officers on duty who had brought us to prison agitated them. As a result, we suffered attacks with truncheons from the soldiers, who pretended to search us. At the morning count, we were then attacked by the guards. We have bruises and pains from these attacks. We were not taken to any hospital or infirmary.”

Çeber mistrusted prison management

Taylan Tanay, lawyer for the Çeber family, has said that this letter disproves the claims of the defendants, who have denied the torture accusations:

“The defendants have said that the torture allegations are ‘fiction’; that if they had been true, Çeber would have complained. This letter disproves their claim.”

Tanay said that detained and arrested people normally applied to the prosecution with letters that passed through the prison management. He says that the manner in which the letter was smuggled out shows that Çeber did not believe that a letter in a closed envelope would get passed the prison management.

Also allegations of torture at İstinye police station

This letter will be used as evidence of torture in Metris Prison. However, Çeber’s three friends Gün, Karakaya and Baykal have given detailed evidence about being tortured at İstinye police station in Istanbul.

The court case, in which 60 people are standing trial, will continue on 4 March. (TK/AG)