Allegation of Police Kidnap of a Man

Flagged by relatives and saying he was preparing to press formal charges, Erdal Bozkurt held a press conference at the Istanbul branch of Turkey's Human Rights Association (IHD) on Tuesday.

Bozkurt said he was detained by the police two weeks ago for "social work" he had undertaken at Istanbul's Alibeykoy district where he lives.

The work involved collaboration with civil society organizations to discourage the use of drugs and overall social degeneration, he said.

But he and three relatives, as well as a friend, were detained on grounds of holding meetings with village associations and local businesses. The officers, who said they were from the counter-terrorism branch, allegedly mistreated the group in hope of pressing charges for "organizational propaganda and separatism".

After the release of his friends, Bozkurt's detention continued but he told at the IHD meeting that he did not yield and denied all allegations. Following day he was set free by the Eyup Public Prosecutor's Office and two days later the policemen approached him in their car and said "We will be seeing you, don't think you've survived" before driving off.

Changing of places, not torture itself

According to Bozkurt's account, on the evening of October 12 a white Renault car approached him on the road and two people walked out, identified themselves as officers, held him by the arms and dragged him inside.

"They covered my mouth and stopped me from shouting and asking for help" Bozkurt said. "In the meantime they were hitting me on the back and the head. After we traveled a distance they blindfolded me. After a long while, the car came to a stop. They made me walk for a while. Then we went down a couple of steps and a door opened, I was thrown inside".

Bozkurt said that once inside the policemen who'd taken him tied him by the wrists and ankles and he heard one of them say "look here now what we are going to do with you" before the beating started. Questions asked of him were "Which organization are you from?" and "Who was organizing these meetings?".

Describing his experience for about 24 hours in the groups hands, Bozkurt said he was repeatedly offered deals to make statements they wanted and threatened with his life if he refused. At one point, he said, they raised his t-shirt above his arms and started to strike him with what he believed to be cord while also marking him.

Once, he said, one of them pressed a gun against his head and threatened to shoot.

Despite his ordeal Bozkurt was later placed back in a car and thrown out of the vehicle on a sidewalk near the Hasdal cemetery on a main road.

IHD executive Halil Savda who attended Bozkurt's press conference said torture was still continuing in Turkey "with the only difference being that instead of police and detention centers it continues on the streets, is conducted secretly."

"It is not possible to end torture without prosecuting and punishing the torturers" said Savda adding that the government was not sincere in its approach to the issue and encouraging it to open an investigation into this case. (EZO/KO/II/YE/EU)