Behind Bars for Wearing a Keffiyeh

Galatasaray University student Cihan Kırmızıgül was arrested while waiting for the bus and has been detained for 18 months now. He was not able to continue his studies during these 1.5 years. The evidence his arrest was based on is the keffiyeh he wore around his neck. A keffiyeh is a traditional Arab headdress made from a square black and white piece of cloth.

In February 2010, a group of people threw Molotov cocktails to an empty supermarket in Çağlayan/Istanbul and fled the scene. Eye witnesses stated that the persons belonging to that group were wearing keffiyehs.

Kırmızıgül apparently was not aware of the incident at all when he left a friend's house around the same time the attack happened. He went to the bus stop and waited for his line, wearing his keffiyeh as a scarf. There, he was arrested because "he might have been part of the incident".

Imprisoned for 18 months

The student was taken before the Beşiktaş (Istanbul) 14^th High Criminal Special Authority Court. Although the prosecutor demanded his release, he was arrested on the grounds of allegedly having thrown a Molotov cocktail on 21 February. Kırmızıgül was brought to the Tekirdağ No.2 F Type Prison (west of Istanbul).

The 23-year-old student is one of four children of a family that migrated from Adıyaman in south-eastern Anatolia to Adana on the eastern Mediterranean coast. He succeeded in the central university entrance exam and got a place at the Galatasaray University Department of Industrial Engineering. He moved to Istanbul thereupon.

He was studying in second grade when he was arrested 18 months ago. He lost 30 kilos in prison. Kırmızıgül is charged with "membership of an organization" and "harming private property". The fifth hearing of his case will be held on 14 September.

"He was not at the scene of the incident"

Lawyer Sait Tanrıverdi emphasized that his client had not even been taken into police custody before. The only present evidence was the fact that "he was in the area of the incident wearing a keffiyeh", Tanrıverdi said.

The lawyer told bianet that a secret witness stated in the second hearing that he saw Kırmızıgül throwing a Molotov cocktail. Later on, the secret witness changed his statement and said, "Kırmızıgül was not at the scene of the incident, I have never seen him before".

Hereupon, the prosecutor left the continuation of the detention "to the judgement of the court". However, the court decided to keep Kırmızıgül in detention.

Education blocked

Lawyer Tanrıverdi indicated that the court accepted the fact that about 50 people had been involved in the action. In this trial however, Kırmızıgül was the only defendant, he noted.

Tanrıverdi explained that his client applied for permission to take his exams but the prison management declined his request. (AS/VK)