Kobanî trial | ‘Forensic medical report on Aysel Tuğluk not signed by a neurologist’

* Image: Ercan Altuntaş

Click to read the article in Turkish / Kurdish

The first session of the 10th hearing of the Kobanî trial was held at the Ankara 22nd High Criminal Court today (February 28).

In the trial over the "October 6-8, 2014 Kobanî protests", there are 108 defendants, 21 arrested, including former HDP Co-Chairs Figen Yüksekdağ and Selahattin Demirtaş, Democratic Regions Party (DBP) former Co-Chair Sebahat Tuncel and HDP Central Executive Board members.

While the politicians arrested in Sincan Prison were present in the courtroom, the ones held in other prisons attended the hearing via video conference on the Audio and Visual Information System (SEGBİS).

As reported by Mezopotamya Agency (MA), the hearing began with an identity check and it was seen that the latest forensic medical report on ill prisoner Aysel Tuğluk has been added to the case file.

Taking the floor, Bülent Parmaksız, a former Central Executive Board member of the HDP, said that they have been facing mounting problems in prison and arbitrary searches have been on the increase.

'Copy-paste report' for Aysel Tuğluk

Attending the hearing via video conference, Aysel Tuğluk's lawyer Serdar Çelebi recalled that Tuğluk had been referred to the hospital in early 2021 and following a series of tests and examinations, she was diagnosed with dementia. He noted that while they requested the suspension of the execution and the release of Tuğluk, these requests remained inconclusive.

Acknowledging that the suspension of the execution is the case on certain conditions in Turkey and it shall be approved by the Forensic Medicine Institution, lawyer Serdar Çelebi reminded the court board of a European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) ruling of rights violation, which concluded that this should not be a justification for release.

Arguing that the report of the Forensic Medicine Institution should not be sought, Çelebi said that they received alternative reports for this reason. Noting that the treatment of dementia in prison is not possible and Tuğluk cannot even make defense, Çelebi said that upon their requests, a written correspondence was sent to the Kocaeli Prison, where Tuğluk is held.

Recalling that Aysel Tuğluk was referred to the hospital upon this writ, lawyer Çelebi said, "In the report written at the hospital, it was said that she could partly answer the questions about current subjects and the diagnosis of dementia was confirmed; with the final decision left at the discretion of the Forensic Medicine Institution, she was referred to the Institution. We wanted to receive information from the Institution regarding her condition; however, the Institution wrote a report by copy-pasting from the indictment. How the report was prepared is quite obvious."

Serdar Çelebi underlined that the conclusion part of the forensic medical report does not answer the interim ruling, but it still refers to some tests, observations and findings. According to the lawyer, the report has found "weak instant verbal functions and abstraction skills" in Tuğluk. Based on this information, lawyer Çelebi asked the court board: "Do you insist on receiving a defense despite these findings? We said that we could not make defense. For this reason, we reiterate our request for release."

'Report not signed by a neurologist'

Speaking further about the latest forensic medical report, lawyer Serdar Çelebi raised concerns that even though dementia falls within the specialty of neurology, the report has not been signed by a single neurologist, adding that all signatures belong to psychiatrists.

Çelebi said that their requests for Tuğluk's release in respect for human dignity have been rejected. Noting that Tuğluk's disease is deteriorating, he stressed that her hospitalization is a must.

After Çelebi, Ayla Akat Ata took the floor to make her defense. Referring to the Dolmabahçe Agreement issued on February 28, 2015 during the Resolution Process for the Kurdish question, Akat Ata said that the Agreement put an emphasis on democratic politics in its first article and raised concerns that they cannot do democratic politics in Turkey now:

The problems that we face do not come up all across Turkey. My language is banned. Every plane that takes off from Diyarbakır causes panic. The reasons that we sense are not the same as the ones sensed in the west of the country. The door of the media is closed to us. They do not know what we go through. A seriously wrong narrative is pumped to the public. We want to be free citizens. I want to express myself as a Kurd within the borders of Turkey. How will the state express itself?

Handing down its interim ruling regarding the request of Gültan Kışanak to take the floor to speak as a witness about Aysel Tuğluk, the court has rejected the request. The hearing will continue tomorrow.

(EMK/SD)