Death in custody in earthquake-hit Hatay

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Ahmet Güreşçi, one of the two brothers taken from their house in Büyükburç, Hatay and detained by the gendarme, lost his life while in custody.

There are also traces of torture on Sabri Güreşçi's body, the other brother, who is to appear in Altınözü court today at 11:00.

A Progressive Lawyers Association (ÇHD) lawyer* told bianet how the incident happened.

"The gendarme goes to the house of the Güreşçi family on February 11 in the morning in order to take Sabri Güreşçi into custody, on charges of robbery. Allegedly the TEKEL shop (selling alcohol and cigarettes) was robbed on February 7, one day after the earthquakes. The gendarme first fires a gun into the air and says that they will take Sabri. They also take his brother Ahmet when he asks the reason and objects. They take the two brothers to the police station.

Father sees son dead in the hospital

The family comes and starts to wait in front of the police station. In the evening around 19:30 pm. the father notices that a body was being carried out of the police station, wrapped in a blanket. He thinks it may be his son and follows the vehicle to the hospital.

The father sees in the hospital that the one wrapped in the blanket is his son Ahmet. He hears the doctors say, "No need for an ambulance, he is dead."

Gendarme: "He hit his head on the wall"

The gendarme first says that the person is not Ahmet but a person from Syria. Then they say, "We had released him, the people have beaten him."

The incident is now submitted to the prosecutor's office, and a report of examination of the deceased was prepared. According to the preliminary autopsy, there are wounds all around Ahmet's body, bleeding in his brain, and a fracture in his nose. The cause of death will be determined conclusively with the autopsy report.

The gendarme asserted in the report on the incident that Ahmet Güreşçi had hit his head on the walls saying "release me."

"Can hardly stand, wounds on his face"

"The other brother Sabri also has many wounds. When we lawyers saw him, he could hardly stand. He has a rib fracture, and many wounds on his face.

The family gave a statement and made a complaint about torture and murder. Sabri Güreşçi has also described all details in his statement and identified the five gendarmes that inflicted violence on him.

"Allegations of looting increased tension"

The ÇHD lawyer who talked to bianet said that the tension in the city rose following the allegations of "looting" on social media and that these allegations made the people and the security forces who are already in great difficulty even sadder and more enraged.

ÇHD has, in the written statement on the incident, announced that the lawyers who met the people in custody have also been threatened by the gendarme saying, "This can also happen to you," and that reports were kept for the lawyers because they recorded evidence and that their colleagues were at risk.

* We cannot publish the name of the lawyer we talked to due to security concerns. (AS/PE)