Parliamentary Inquiry by HDP Regarding Battery to DBP Co-Chair Arslan in Prison

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The Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Van MP Lezgin Botan has submitted a parliamentary inquiry regarding the Democratic Regions Party (DBP) Co-Chair Mehmet Arslan, who was subjected to a forced naked body search in Rize prison where he is under arrest and was heavily battered.

In the parliamentary question submitted to be responded by the Minister of Justice Abdülhamit Gül, it has been stated that "practices such as naked body search, sexual harassment, lynch, count on foot, battery and maltreatment have become ordinary and in spite of this, demands and negotiations regarding these practices have remained inconclusive."

"All of the prisoners were injured in various body parts"

In the parliamentary question submitted by HDP Van MP Botan, a note by the DBP Co-Chair Arslan conveyed by his attorney has also been included. In the note, it has been stated:

"On the day when I was sent to here [Rize prison], I was kept waiting in a room around 10.20 a.m. After that, they demanded a naked body search. The room where they wanted to do the search was without a surveillance camera. I resisted the naked body search. After I expressed my resistance to the search, around 10 people entered the room and I was told, 'Your chairpersonship does not count here, if you do not accept the search, you will face the consequences, it is the place of patriots, you will all learn it'".

"I resisted the search once again and after that, all the officers in the room descended upon me, used violence against me until I fainted and forcibly did a naked body search on me.

"After the body search, I was kept waiting in another room until 11 p.m. When I was taken to the medical room, no battery or violence report was prepared. I was only asked if I had any illnesses and the resulting report was not handed over to me.

"After the medical room, they took me to a room where there were 16 other people, all of whom were injured in various body parts.

"We cannot receive a response to the petitions that we write about the violations. I also cannot get an answer to the criminal complaint which I submitted to the Rize Chief Public Prosecutor's Office." (AS/SD)