Police Detains 6 People “Just in Case”

Police detained 6 individuals at the entry of Izmir International Fair on the possibility that they could “launch a Gezi Resistance protest”. Released after the ceremony, detainees have filed complaints on policemen for “arbitrary detention and ill-treatment”.

“We have been assigned to prevent protests against party leaders and deputies who will attend the ceremony,” police duty logs said. 

“Last night around 7 pm [local time], we have been stopped at fair entrance by the police. They wanted to detain us, saying that they received intelligence on an impending Gezi Resistance protest by us,” Onur Kılıç, Freedom and Solidarity Party (ÖDP) Party Assembly member, told bianet. 

“Then they told us that they had a search order about us. But they had other contradictory remarks. Then we told them that what they were doing was illegal and we wouldn’t go to police station. We were forced into a police car upon that.”

Kılıç and his 5 friends were transferred to Basmane Police Station in the western province of Izmir. 

“They harmed themselves”

While a police log issued at 9:10 pm local time have not mentioned the “possibility of Gezi protest”, it claimed that police IDed 6 ÖDP members who refused to present their IDs and started shouting slogans. 

An attestation signed by 10 policemen and 3 police chiefs explained the reason why they “used force”. 

“...They refused to get in the police car even though we said we will have to use force otherwise. Individuals knocked themselves from one side to another to harm themselves. They made themselves eliminated,” the attestation cited. 

Kılıç claimed that the attestation did not represent the truth, saying that policemen even took their photos. They filed complaints against police officers. 

6 ÖDP members were initially taken to police station and then Alsancak Hospital for health control. They were later on transferred back to Basmane Police Station for testimonies. 

They filed complaints 

6 ÖDP members were asked whether they shouted slogans, police logs cited. 

“We were taken to the police station. We were told that they have been searching for us. After being kept there for four hours, we learned that we were accused of resisting the police. They tried to set up a crime for us,” Kılıç said. 

Around 1 am local time that night, detainees were released after confirming that what they wrote before was not representing the truth.  

In addition, Kılıç said they filed complaints on the police officers for “arbitrary detention and ill-treatment”. 

While the police took precautions, a group launched a Gezi Park protest at fair opening, shouting “Everywhere Taksim, everywhere resistance” in Kültürpark Amphitheater. (AS/BM)

* Click here to read the original article in Turkish.