An unfair trial in Izmir
Contents |
The Story of Mehmet from Germany
Mehmet Desde, who is living and working in Germany since 1978 had come to Turkey in early 2002 to rent a flat, where his parents could live after retirement. He rented a flat in İzmir, but before his parents could come he had to go back to Germany on 4 June, because his father Garip Desde had become seriously ill. He died on 14 June. On 17 June the family took the corpse to Turkey. On 18 June Garip Desde was buried in Denizli. Mehmet Desde and his mother intended to go back to Germany, after the contract of the flat was dissolved and the ceremony 40 days after the death was over.
On 9 and 10 July 2002 Mehmet Desde, born 1959, German citizen, Maksut Karadağ, born 1944, Hüseyin Habip Taşkın, born 1960, Mehmet Bakır, born 1963, living in Germany, Metin Özgünay, born 1974, Ömer Güner, born 1969, living in Austria, Ergün Yıldırım, born 1959, Hatice Karadağ and Fatma Tufaner were detained in and around İzmir. Şerafettin Parmak, born 1955, was detained in Denizli on 12 July. They were interrogated at the Department to Fight Terrorism at İzmir Police HQ until 13 July. Most of them alleged to have been tortured during this time. On 13 July they testified to the prosecutor at İzmir SSCState Security Court . He released Ömer Güner, Ergün Yıldırım and the two women Hatice Karadağ (wife of Maksut Karadağ) and Fatma Tufaner (married in religious terms to Hüseyin Habip Taşkın). The judge at İzmir Penal Court No. 3 ordered the arrest of Mehmet Desde, Hüseyin Habip Taşkın and Maksut Karadağ, but released Şerafettin Parmak, Mehmet Bakır and Metin Özgünay. On objection of the prosecutor arrest warrants were issued for Şerafettin Parmak and Mehmet Bakır. They were remanded on 17 July and 2 August respectively.
In the indictment of 6 September 2002 the prosecutor at İzmir SSC argued that the first five defendants should be sentenced under Article 168/2 TPCTurkish Penal Code for membership of an armed gang, namely the Bolshevist Party (North Kurdistan-Turkey, in short BP KK-T). The other five defendants should be convicted as supporters of the organization for aiding and abetting its members. The charges were later changed to Article 7 of Law No. 3713 to Fight Terrorism (LFT), which is usually applied for illegal organizations that have not conducted violent activities. On 21 January 2003 the remanded defendants were released, but banned from leaving the country. After 6 hearings İzmir SSC passed the verdict on 24 July 2003. Mehmet Desde, Maksut Karadağ, Hüseyin Habip Taşkn, Şerafettin Parmak and Mehmet Bakır were seen “as founders of the organization” and sentenced to 50 months’ imprisonment and fines of TL 7.27 billion according to Article 7/1 of the LFT. Metin Özgünay, Ömer Güner and Ergün Yıldırım were sentenced to 10 months’ imprisonment and fines of TL 662 million for supporting the organization. Hatice Karadağ and Fatma Tufaner were acquitted.
The court did not lift the bans on leaving the country for Mehmet Desde and Mehmet Bakır. Subsequently Mehmet Desde lost his job in Germany. Being unable to pay the rent for his flat, he would be homeless, once he can return to Germany. The defendants were not imprisoned pending appeal of the verdict.
Detention and Torture
Mehmet Desde, who is living and working in Germany since 1978 had come to Turkey in early 2002 to rent a flat, where his parents could live after retirement. He rented a flat in İzmir, but before his parents could come he had to go back to Germany on 4 June, because his father Garip Desde had become seriously ill. He died on 14 June. On 17 June the family took the corpse to Turkey. On 18 June Garip Desde was buried in Denizli. Mehmet Desde and his mother intended to go back to Germany, after the contract of the flat was dissolved and the ceremony 40 days after the death was over.
On 9 July Mehmet Desde and Mehmet Bakır got a car from Ömer Güner, to go to a holiday flat of Mehmet Bakır north of İzmir. Some 20 kilometers outside İzmir the car was stopped and without information about the reasons of detention Mehmet Bakır and Mehmet Desde were taken to the Department to Fight Terrorism in Bozyaka quarter of İzmir. They were put in dump cells, overheated by the hot sun and very bright light. Requests that their families should be informed were not met. Stating that the German passport of Mehmet Desde was forged the police also did not inform the German General Consulate in İzmir. Legally the defendants would have been entitled to contact a lawyer after two days in detention, but they had no contact to the outside world for all four days in detention. The other defendants, too, were neither informed of their rights, nor given an opportunity to confer with legal council. The defendants also complained to have been deprived of food and liquid.
On 12 July the families of Hüseyin Habip Taşkın and Fatma Tufaner went to İzmir Bar Association and asked for judicial help. Immediately four lawyers went to İzmir Police HQ, but were not permitted to see their clients. Three lawyers went there again the next day and were informed that the suspects had been taken to İzmir SSC. The lawyers were only allowed to see their clients for a very short time. The meeting ended, when the prisoners had been informed of their rights. The lawyers observed that Mr. Taşkın was in poor health and had difficulties in walking. They found that Miss Tufaner was in a bad psychological state.
On the corridor another prisoner identified himself as Mehmet Desde and told the lawyers that he had been held in custody since Tuesday, his relatives had not been informed and requests for a lawyer had not been met. He asked for judicial aid. The lawyers also noted that the police officers did not allow the other defendants to speak.
Finally İzmir Bar Association appointed four lawyers to provide legal aid for those defendants, who were taken to the arresting judge, namely Mehmet Desde, Mehmet Bakır, Şerafettin Parmak, Maksut Karadağ and Metin Özgünay. In testifying to the judge Mehmet Desde, Mehmet Bakır, Şerafettin Parmak and Maksut Karadağ complained of torture and ill-treatment. Maksut Karadağ felt unable to testify. In the minutes of the testimony this reads: “The defendant was informed of the charges and asked for his defense. He said that his health was currently not good and, therefore, he wanted to use his right to remain silent.” One of the lawyers wanted to know the reason for the poor health and at this stage Maksut Karadağ stated that he had not been tortured physically, but psychologically. He had been put under psychological pressure. Insults such as “talk, son of a bitch” had disturbed his mental balance.
The first defendant to testify was Mehmet Desde. The judge Erden Polatcan noted from his testimony: “At the police (headquarters) I was subjected to severe torture, they took off all my clothes and said that they would rape me. They would put concrete over me and throw me into the sea. The insulted and threatened me heavily. Despite this I used the right to remain silent. I do not accept the charges, because I’m innocent.” One of the defense lawyers wanted a question to be asked on the attempted rape. Mehmet Desde said: “Once they had stripped me stark naked I was forced to bend forward, as if they would rape me, but I did not realize what they did.” On question of another lawyer Mehmet Desde added: “They hit me on my back and my chest with great force. Earlier I had seen the director of the department with open eyes and I recognized him during the beatings from his voice.” The same lawyer asked for a transfer of her client to the Forensic Institute, but the judge left the decision to the prosecutor at the state security court.
Şerafettin Parmak stated that he had been beaten during the search of his house, when he protested that he could not see the things the police officers wanted to confiscate. Mehmet Bakır stated that he had no connection to an organization called Bolshevist Party, Northern Kurdistan. He alleged that he had been beaten once, while his eyes had been blindfolded and once, while the blindfolds had been down. He described one of the police officers as medium-sized, aged between 40 and 45. The other police officers had called him “superior”. Hüseyin Habip Taşkın declined from being represented by the lawyers saying that he would defend himself. He stated that he had testified to the police on his own free will and had not been tortured. His heart problems had been the result of being nervous. The police officers had taken him to hospital, where he stayed for 5 to 6 hours, before being taken back to the police headquarters.
The hearings
On 24 October 2002 İzmir SSC No. 1 conducted the first hearing. Remanded defendant Şerafettin Parmak had not appeared, because he had not been transferred to a prison close to İzmir. Among the non-remanded defendants only Metin Özgünay had not appeared. Mehmet Desde pleaded not guilty and repeated his allegations of torture. Maksut Karadağ, who had not been able to testify to the arresting judge stated (according to the minutes): “For three days I was subjected to severe torture. They brought my wife and said that they would rape her in front of me. They also said that they would rape me. They applied moral pressure and I was forced to sign the minutes and statements under force.”
Hüseyin Habip Taşkın started his testimony by saying that he did not accept his earlier statements to the police, the prosecutor and the judge. His partner Fatma Tufaner had been brought in and during her bodysearch one of the police officers had asked to leave the woman to him. The female officer had replied that he could get her after the bodysearch. “These words made me angry and I got quite excited. I wanted to walk toward the police officer. At that moment I felt a pain in my chest and numbness in my legs. I fainted and woke up in Yeşilyurt Hospital. The doctors said that I had to be treated because of problems with my heart, but the police officers took me back for interrogation. Because of my breakdown and the pressure inflicted by the police officers I had to sign the statement and accept the charges. At the prosecutor’s office and in front of the judge I was still under the influence of the breakdown.”
Mehmet Bakır objected to the expression “organizational attitude”. In fact, he had not been asked to sign a statement, because he had nothing to do with the organization in question. Ömer Güner also rejected his statement to the police stating that it had been extracted under torture and ill-treatment. Hatice Karadağ, too, objected to the testimony she had signed at İzmir Police HQ and said that she had been exposed to a number of pressures, which she did not want to talk about.
In the light of these torture allegations İzmir SSC only decided to be informed of the outcome of investigations into official complaints, which had been filed by Mehmet Desde and Maksut Karadağ. The court rejected demands for release and adjourned the hearing to 12 December.
Already during the first hearing the Court asked for an additional defense, because the charges might be changed to Article 7 of Law No. 3713 on Fighting Terrorism (LFT). Apparently the Court had asked for an opinion on the organization (letter of 16 September) and the General Directorate for Security in the Ministry of Interior Affairs had replied on 1 October. The report marked “confidential” concluded that the Bolshevist Party/Northern Kurdistan Turkey (BP/KKT) was “an armed terror organization”. But as far as actions were concerned a total of 7 actions in 2002 such as distribution of leaflets and stickers were listed (five of them in İzmir and subject of the trial and 2 of them in Bursa). None of the actions had a violent character and none of the pamphlets included calls for violent actions. Therefore, the Court considered changing the charges from “armed gang” (Article 168 TPC) to “terrorist organization” (Article 7 LFT).
During the hearing of 12 December Şerafettin Parmak testified to the effect that he did not know any of the other defendants. He objected to the formulation that he had shown an organizational attitude by using his right to remain silent. Instead he had told the police officers that he did not know such an organization and would help them to find it, if it existed. The Court rejected requests to hear witnesses for the fact that the free-lanced journalist Mehmet Bakır, working in Germany, had only come to Turkey to spend a holiday and adjourned the hearing to 21 January 2003.
On that day Metin Özgünay testified. He complained that he had been held in a narrow cell without fresh air and, therefore, he did not accept his testimony to the police, since it had been extracted under torture. At the prosecutor’s office he had still been under pressure and the minutes taken there did not reflect the truth. Meanwhile the public prosecutor’s office had finished the investigation into the allegations of torture by Mehmet Desde and Maksut Karadağ. In both cases the prosecutor had decided not to bring charges
At the end of the hearing the remanded prisoners were released, while the bans on leaving the country were upheld for Mehmet Desde and Mehmet Bakır. Two further hearings took place on 27 March and 21 May.
On 21 May the prosecutor summed up the case. He mainly repeated the accusations from the indictment, but instead of asking for convictions under Articles 168 and 169 TPC he now asked for convictions under Article 7 LFT. He made no mention of torture allegations. The defense asked for more time to prepare the final statements. The hearing was adjourned to 24 July.
On this day the medical report of İzmir Medical Association, dated 21 July 2003, was presented to the Court. This report contained detailed findings on torture and ill-treatment of Mehmet Desde, but the Court did nothing else, but adding the report to the files. Then the Court announced its verdict. Mehmet Desde, Maksut Karadağ, Hüseyin Habip Taşkın, Şerafettin Parmak and Mehmet Bakır were seen “as founders of the organizations” and sentenced to 50 months’ imprisonment and fines of TL 7.27 billion according to Article 7/1 of the LFT. Metin Özgünay, Ömer Güner and Ergün Yıldırım were sentenced to 10 months’ imprisonment and fines of TL 662 million for supporting the organization. Hatice Karadağ and Fatma Tufaner were acquitted.
In reaching the verdict İzmir SSC almost completely followed the line of the prosecution. Like the prosecution it accepted statements, which allegedly had been extracted under torture, as evidence and did not even comment on the allegations. It simply noted (during the hearing of 21 January 2003) that the public prosecutor had finished the investigation relating to the allegations of torture and decided not to bring any charges. According to DTFDemocratic Turkey Forum ’s information the prosecutor simply took the testimony of the complainants (Mehmet Desde and Mehmet Bakır). He did not ask them to identify any of the perpetrators or tried to identify them by other means. The prosecutor also did not try to identify and interrogate witnesses.
Trial against Torturers
As usually, the suspects were medically examined at the beginning and the end of custody. The reports in the file indicate that these examinations were carried out at Yeşilyurt Hospital. The pre-prepared slips of paper only carry the note: “no blows or force”. Appealing against the decision of the prosecutor not to bring any charges the lawyers pointed at a circular of the Health Ministry of 20 September 2000. This circular describes how medical examinations of suspects have to be conducted. The slips used at Yeşilyurt Hospital obviously do not meet the requirements of the circular that provides that time and date of the incident have to be noted as well as the complaints of the patient. Particular attention should be paid to psychological symptoms and in case of sexual assault additional forms have to be filled in.
Since all this was not done in time it is now hard to find material evidence for the torture claims. Mehmet Desde complained about torture from within prison and was examined by the physician in prison. The physician put down his comments on a prescription paper and only noted “no blows or force”. (The report dates 22 July) On 22 October 2002 the German General Consulate in İzmir wrote to the administration of Kırıklar F-type Prison and asked that the German prisoner should not be held in isolation. Regarding the allegations of torture the Consulate suggested an examination by an independent institution. The prison administration approached the prosecutor’s office, which asked the Directory for Prisons in the Ministry of Justice.
The Ministry of Justice told the prosecutor to handle the facsimile as an official complaint. Yet it took more than three months, before Mehmet Desde was sent to the hospital of the medical faculty of the Aegean University. He was examined on 6 February 2003 and the faculty presented the report on 11 March. The report stated that after such a long time traces of torture could not be found. Certifying strong depressive disturbances and post-traumatic stress disorders the report agreed that this might be the result of what the patient alleged to have been through.
On 21 July 2003 İzmir Medical Association presented a 15-page report with detailed statements of the patient and the following examinations. The commission concluded that the examinations in psychiatry, neurology, orthopedics and internal surgery were in complete agreement with the narrated incident (anamnesia). The commission was absolutely convinced that the patient had been tortured physically as well as psychologically.
Finally the public prosecutor indicted four police officers: Muhteşem Çavuşoğlu (at the time leading the anti-terror squad at İzmir Police HQ and now Deputy Chief of Aydın Police) and the police officers Mesut Angi, Alim Erçetin and Hürriyet Gündüz. The trial against them under Article 243 TPC started at İzmir Criminal Court No. 7 on 2 October. The defendants had not appeared. Mehmet Desde detailed his allegations. The Court asked for more material on the reports from the Aegean University and İzmir Medical Association and adjourned the hearing to 31 October. It did not ask Muhteşem Çavuşoğlu to appear, but shall write to the court in Aydın to take his testimony.
