Turkey Convicted of Torturing 19 y.o. Demonstrator

The case concerned Mehmet Fidan who was born in 1990 and lives in Şırnak (Turkey) where the ill-treatment to which Fidan had allegedly been subjected by the security forces in the course of his arrest and detention in police custody.

Mehmet Fidan was arrested on 14 February 2009 by the security forces after taken into police custody during a demonstration and underwent a medical examination. 

He lodged a complaint with the prosecutor’s office against the police officers, alleging ill-treatment, and against one of the doctors who had examined him, alleging abuse of authority. 

However, his efforts to find justice yielded no results in the national judicial system. 

During the course of the examination and in his statements to the prosecutor and the judge of the İdil Criminal Court of First Instance, Mr Fidan complained in particular that he had received blows to the right ear during his arrest, impairing his hearing.  

On 23 February 2009 he lodged a complaint with the prosecutor’s office against the police officers, alleging ill-treatment, and against one of the doctors who had examined him, alleging abuse of authority. A criminal investigation was opened and resulted in a decision not to prosecute, which Fidan unsuccessfully challenged.

Relying in particular on Article 3 (prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment), Fidan complained that he had been ill-treated during his arrest and detention in police custody, and that no effective criminal investigation had been carried out in respect of the doctor and police officers in question. 

Fidan will receive no payment for damages as he did not submit a claim for just satisfaction within the time-limit fixed by the Court. (AS/BM)

* Click here to read the article in Turkish.