12-Year-Old Child Handcuffed Behind the Back in Trustee Protests

Click to read the article in Turkish / Kurdish

Police have intervened against the ones protesting appointment of trustees to Metropolitan Municipalities of Van, Mardin and Diyarbakır in Ankara. Detaining 17 people during the protests, they also got a 12-year-child on the ground and handcuffed him from the back.

The detained were released yesterday evening (August 22) after the related formalities were completed at the Ankara Security Branch.

As reported by Mezopotamya Agency (MA), police intervened against the statement for the press to be held by the Ankara Mamak Platform members at Tuzluçayır Square in protest against the removal of three Metropolitan Mayors of Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) from office. Police officers did not allow the statement to be held and ordered the group to disperse.

As the protesters staged a sit-in protest, the police intervened against the group. They attempted to handcuff 12-year-old B.A. from the back. As the child resisted, they got him on the floor and handcuffed him from behind.

Sharing a message on his Twitter account, Contemporary Lawyers' Association (ÇHD) Ankara Branch Chair lawyer Murat Yılmaz has denounced the rear-handcuffing of the child. Referring to the Article 18 of the Law on Protection of Children, Yılmaz has underlined that children shall not be shackled, handcuffed or subjected to a similar treatment while being transferred as part of an investigation.

(AÖ/SD)