DEATH IN DETENTION

52-year old Resul İlçin died after he had been taken into custody in the district of Idil belonging to the city of Şırnak of the east of Turkey. The autopsy report confirmed a 5 cm crack in his scull and bruises in different parts of his body. İlçin's family filed a criminal complaint to the İdil Prosecutor's Office.

As reported to bianet by family lawyer Tahir Elçi, İlçin and his nephew Mehmet İlgin were arrested on the night of 21 October when they were driving in their car. About 1 hour later they were brought to the District Police Department. After 1.00 am İlçin was taken inside while the police officers searched the car. 15 minutes later the police informed Ilgin that İlçin had fallen down. İlçin was brought to the Cizre State Hospital where he died.

Family doubts cause of death

According to Elci, İlçin's family believes that İlçin was assaulted and exposed to physical violence in the police department. The family filed a criminal complaint at the İdil Prosecutor's Office on 23 October demanding litigation for the perpetrators.

Elçi agreed with the fact that the head injury and bruises on İlçin's body documented in the autopsy report do not correspond to the explanation that he "fell down".

On the evening of 22 October demonstrations had been organized in the district of İdil to protest İlçin's death. According to information from Fırat News Agency, the police fired warning shots and used tear gas against the demonstrators.

Governor: İlçin was seen falling down, supposedly related to heart disease

Şırnak Governor Ali Yerilkaya issued a written statement saying, "The person named Resul İlçin stepped out of the car and waited at the entrance of the police department in front of a barrack for the driver to park the car. In the meantime he was seen how he fell to down to the ground". As a justification for this argument Yerlikaya stated that İlçin underwent medical treatment in the Batman State Hospital in 2007 because of a heart disease. The statement does not mention any person in particular who has seen İlçin falling down.

Elçi also referred to decisions of the European Court of Human Rights regarding healthy people being exposed to harmful treatment in detention. The lawyer indicated that in this case it is entirely the responsibility of the authorities to prove that they did not act unlawfully.

Bayındır brought the matter to the parliament

Democratic Society Party (DTP) MP Sevahir Bayındır inquired the Minister of the Interior Beşir Atalay about İlçin's death. Bayındır asked Atalay whether an investigation into the circumstances of İlçin's death will be started and whether the minister thinks about deposing the chief of police and the governor from duty.

Torture allegations of prosecutor and lawyers at İdil police station

Last year several people witnessed how police officers in the district beat 8 people first in front of the entrance of the court house and later on in the corridors of the state hospital. Lawyers and members of the Human Rights Association Diyarbakır Branch and the İdil Public Prosecutor documented that they had been exposed to torture when they went to the police station upon the witnesses' reports. (TK/VK)