Directorate General of Security bans ‘recording voices, images’ at demonstrations

* Photo: DİSK

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The Directorate General of Security has issued a circular that bans recording voices and images at demonstrations. The Progressive Lawyers Association (ÇHD) İstanbul Branch has revealed the circular issued by the signature of Director General of Security Mehmet Aktaş.

With this circular, the police have been instructed to prevent the people who capture the images or voices of police officers during demonstrations and to take legal action against the related people.

The circular has argued that posting the recorded voices and images of police and civilians "violates the privacy of private life", adding that capturing voices and images prevents the fulfillment of duty as well.

'It leads to wrong judgements'

In the circular, Director General Aktaş has said, "Our general law enforcement personnel are also frequently faced with such situations where the violations of privacy of the private life and personal data are the case. These violations, which sometimes reach an extent of preventing the fulfilment of duty, are sometimes posted on various digital platforms in such a way to harm the personal rights or security of our personnel and citizens."

The circular has noted that "such images do not always represent the incident in its all aspects," arguing that "this affects both the personnel and leads to wrong public judgements about the security organization."

"For this reason, I kindly request that our all personnel be informed that they shall not allow for the actions resorting to recording voices and images, prevent the people who take recordings, depending on the nature of the demonstration or situation, and take legal action when the legal conditions arise," the Director General of Security's circular has added further.

'Torture is a crime'

Revealing this circular, the ÇHD İstanbul Branch has made a statement about the issue and said: "A Ministry of Interior circular security its personnel before May 1. If your personnel commit torture while fulfilling their duty, it will be recorded and evidence will be collected. Because, to reiterate, torture is not within the limits of your duty, it is a crime!"

The Association has also shared a picture from the May Day celebrations in İzmir, where a police officer was seen to be putting his knee on the neck of a person in such a way to prevent him from breathing.

The ÇHD has said that "the 'personnel' cited in the circular and intended to be protected is exactly this. It needs to be recorded when it is seen."

İçişleri Bakanlığından 1 Mayıs öncesi personelini garantiye alma genelgesi.

Personeliniz görevini ifa ederken işkence yaparsa kayıt da alınır, delil de toplanır. Çünkü tekrarla, işkence yapmak görev sınırlarınızda değil, suçtur! pic.twitter.com/AFiARI20yT

— ÇHD İstanbul Şube (@CHDistanbul) April 29, 2021

(HA/SD)