Police Custody after Correction of Statement

Gülistan Encü is one of the key figures of the KCK trial in Urfa (south-eastern Turkey). The Union of Kurdistan Communities (KCK) is the umbrella organization that also includes the armed outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). The KCK trial in Urfa lead to the police custody of 28 people, among them Ufra MP İbrahim Ayhan of the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) and Adile Fidan, BDP Provincial Co-Chair. Nine people were eventually arrested. Encü told journalist Murat Çiftçi from the Dicle News Agency (DİHA) that she was deceived by the police when she gave her statement at the time.

As reported on 28 July, Encü was taken into police custody as soon as the news item of Murat Çiftiçi had been published. The police searched Çiftçi's home. DİHA reported that the raid was done in order to seize visual material.

The statement made by Encü to Çiftçi is of significant importance since she claimed that her statement at the police had been given under pressure. Nevertheless, her statement was used in the context of the Urfa KCK Investigation and lead to the police custody of 28 BDP members, among them Ayhan and Fidan. Subsequent to the interrogations, nine people including Ayhan and Fidan were arrested based on Encü's statement and taken to the Urfa E Type Closed Prison. (YY)