Accusing police of torture, Gülten Matur files complaint

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Gülten Matur, 51, was a cleaning worker living with her mother. The İstanbul 3rd Penal Judgeship of Peace arrested her on November 29 on suspicion of "establishing and managing an illegal organization."

In her statement to the judgeship, Matur said she was informally detained on November 20 and had been tortured until November 28, when she was brought to the İstanbul Security Directorate and formally detained.

Submitting a petition to the İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office through her attorneys, Matur filed a complaint against the officers who detained her and recorded her detention.

"A sack was put over her head"

In the petition, the lawyers said Matur was forcibly detained by people whom she thought were officers near the Osman Yıldız Cemetery in Gebze, Kocaeli, on November 20. The people put a sack over her head and blindfolded her, said the lawyers.

"Matur was taken o a military zone she did not know about. There, she was subjected to torture with strappado, falaka, batons and electricity. She was subjected to beating. For eight days, she was kept in a padded cell. After this torture, the was taken to the İstanbul Security Directorate Anti-Terror Branch on November 28."

The medical report

The forensic examination of Matur included the following information:

"Swelling and bruising on the nose, swelling and bruising in both zygomatic regions, cuff marks on both wrists, 20x10 cm, 15x10 cm, 10x10 cm ecchymoses in the left leg anterolateral region, 2 2x2 cm wounds on the left ankle posterior, left knee anterior 4x4 cm bruise, 6x6 cm bruise on the back, 8x8 ecchymosis in the right gluteal region, 6x6 cm and 4x4 bruises in the anterolateral region of the right leg, 4x5 ecchymosis in the left shoulder, two times 2x2 and one time 3x3 ecchymosis in the upper part of the left arm, 2x2 cm ecchymosis in the upper left chest. Numerous 1x1 bruises on the right forearm, numerous 1x1 bruises in the abdomen, hyperemia in the left ear, existing eardrum perforation."

The petition said the report was in line with Matur's account of the events.

Also, Matur's informal detention for eight days constituted the crime of "deprivation of liberty" as per article 109 of the Turkish Penal Code, they noted.

Formal detention after news reports

After Matur was brought to the police headquarters, the state-run Anadolu Agency (AA) and many other outlets reported about her in violation of the presumption of innocence, the lawyers further said. AA and others had described Matur as a top operative of the Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C), an outlawed Marxist group.

"Following the news, the İstanbul Anti-Terror Branch Directorate informed her lawyers that Gülten Matur was in custody."

The detention

According to the petition, the minutes recorded by the police indicated that Matur was detained on November 28.

"However, Gülten Matur could not be reached by her loved ones and family for a week after November 20."

The police let the lawyers view the minutes but did not give a copy to them, said the lawyers.

Camera footage

According to the police records, Matur was detained on Çayırlı Street in the Şifa Neighborhood in İstanbul's Tuzla district. Camera footage from the area should be obtained and reviewed, the lawyers requested.

The officers fabricated official documents and committed the offense of forgery of official documents, they said. (AS/VK)