ARRESTED LAWYER SULEYMAN GOKTEN WAS BATTERED IN PRISON CELL BY THE PRISON GUARDS
Kept in Tekirdağ No. 1 Type T Prison, Süleyman Gökten has told his lawyers that he and the inmates staying in the same cell were battered by guards last morning (February 26).
Speaking to bianet, lawyer Tamer Doğan and Ezgi Çakır conveyed that six of those battered in the cell were kept in room of sponge with their hands and feet handcuffed for six hours. Doğan and Çakır said that they will file a criminal complaint against the prison administration and guards.
According to Gökten’s lawyers Çakır and Doğan, as many as 50 guards entering the cells for morning roll call assaulted and battered them.
Lawyer Doğan added that those who were battered weren’t taken to infirmary on the pretext that there was no doctor in the prison.
FEBRUARY, 23 | ADANA | SIX LAWYERS WERE TAKEN INTO CUSTODY AND THREE OF THEM WERE ARRESTED
In Adana 6 lawyers were taken into custody on the grounds of (allegedly) using or downloading i-message app named Bylock and three of them lawyers M.E, F.K. ve O.K. were arrested. Thus far, 39 lawyers were taken into custody, 12 lawyers were arrested and 7 lawyers were convicted to long imprisonment in the province of Adana.
I-message app named Bylock has become the most common reason for detentions and (terrorism related) convictions since the failed coup attempt. The US-based think tank Freedom House, which has listed Turkey in his newly released report among the countries in which Internet freedoms are restricted most, stated that tens of thousands of Turkish citizens have been arbitrarily detained for their alleged use of the encrypted communications app ByLock. “Despite a lack of evidence, and the arbitrary nature of the blanket arrests, numerous users have been deemed guilty by association for simply downloading the app.” said the report.
European Union’s Counter-Terrorism Coordinator Gilles de Kerchove described Bylock as circumstantial evidence and said that “You need not only circumstantial evidence – like just downloading an app – but concrete substantive data” to convict someone of terrorism.
“Despite Erdogan’s claims, it violates rights for Turkey to detain people for downloading a popular encryption app” said Ken Roth, director of the Human Rights Watch.
Fox IT which is Netherland based prominent forensic IT company, debunks (MIT) Turkish National Intelligence Agency’s report on BYLOCK app. “The investigation performed by Fox-IT contradicts the key findings of the MİT. Fox-IT also discovered inconsistencies in the MİT report that indicated manipulation of results and/or screenshots by MİT. What is more, Fox-IT found that the MİT investigation is fundamentally flawed due to the contradictory and baseless findings, lack of objectivity and lack of transparency. Fox-IT has read and written many digital investigation reports over the last 15 years. Based on this experience, Fox-IT finds the quality of the MIT report very low, especially when weighed against the consequences of the conclusions.” was said in the statement by Fox-IT after its forensic survey on the Turkish INTEL’s report on BYLOCK app.
FEBRUARY, 22 | ANKARA | LAWYER DENIZ OZBILGIN WAS TAKEN INTO CUSTODY
Ankara Police raided lawyer Deniz Ozbilgin’s house and office on 22 February within the scope of an operation against the leftist dissent group named Halkevleri (People’s House).
Lawyer Ozbilgin was released after a brief detention.
FEBRUARY, 17 | KAYSERI | LAWYER MERVE BOYDAK WAS TAKEN INTO CUSTODY
Lawyer Merve Boydak who is lawyer and daughter of jailed Turkish businessman Memduh Boydak was taken into custody along with other seven members of the Boydak family on the grounds of having an account on the private Turkish bank named Bankasya.
“The bank was one of three banks with the highest liquidity in Turkey, yet it was targeted by Erdoğan because its shareholders included investors who were seen as close to the Gülen. Erdoğan first tried to trigger a run on the bank by wrongfully claiming that the bank was already bankrupt, but failed in his attempts to do so. Then he orchestrated a legal case to take over the bank by using partisan prosecutors. The government not only came after the shareholders and bank managers but the account holders as well. At least 700,000 people were reportedly put under investigation for their connections to the bank.” was said in the report by the Stockholm Center for Freedom.
Boydak Family is the owner of the Boydak Holding that was seized on 18 August 2016 by the decision of the Kayseri Peace Criminal Judge is running 34 separate companies. Only 2 of 34 companies, Bellona and Istikbal Co have 1240 furniture (franchise) stores across the world. Boydak Holding employs 13000 workers and creates indirectly 110000 employment.
Lawyer Merve Boydak was released by the Kayseri Peace Criminal Judge after 5-day police custody.
February, 20| KAYSERI | LAWYER EKREM H WAS SENTENCED TO THREE YEARS AND FOUR MONTHS
Ekrem H who is the member of Kayseri Bar Association and Anatolian Lawyers Association (shut down under the State of Emergency Rule) was sentenced to three years and four months in prison by the Kayseri 2nd High Criminal Court with the charge of being the member of the armed terrorist organisation.
February, 27| KAYSERI | LAWYER ALI OSMAN T WAS SENTENCED TO THREE YEARS AND ONE MONTH
Ali Osman T who is the member of Kayseri Bar Association and Anatolian Lawyers Association (shut down under the State of Emergency Rule) was sentenced to three years and one month in prison by the Kayseri 2nd High Criminal Court with the charge of being the member of the armed terrorist organisation.
Thus far, 35 lawyers were taken into custody, 22 lawyers were arrested and 13 lawyers were convicted to long imprisonment in the province of Kayseri.
February, 24| TOKAT | THREE LAWYERS AND THREE INTERN LAWYERS WERE TAKEN INTI CUSTODY WITH THE CHARGE OF BEING THE MEMBER OF ARMED TERRORIST ORGANISATION
Categories: Torture and Impunity, Unjust / Wrongful Convictions, Weekly Newsletters