Journalist Sues Policemen For Breaking His Finger on Duty

Vahap İş, reporter for the Hedef Newspaper and the Dicle News Agency (DİHA), filed a criminal complaint at the Nusaybin Prosecution about the police officers who are responsible for beating and arresting him on 25 July in Nusaybin in the south-eastern province of Mardin.

In his petition for redress, the journalist argued that subsequent to his arrest, he was taken to the District Police Directorate. One of his fingers got broken when the police took his camera away from him. He also claimed that he had been exposed to several insults. İş received a sick certificate for ten days.

Police beat a child - recording forbidden!

On 25 July, the journalist was going to cover a demonstration in Nusaybin about torture allegations regarding bodies of killed members of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). İş recorded footage with his camera showing intervening police offers beating a child. In the course of the incident, the police apparently also intervened against İş and seized his equipment.

"I told them that their intervention was not legal, but..."

İş stated that he was also insulted and cursed at the police station. He was able to take back his equipment but the police illegally seized the footage and kept his voice recorder, İş said.

"There was an uproar on Şirin Avenue between the police forces and children. I started recording. Then, a plainclothes police officer punched my camera. I continued shooting how one of the children was about to be arrested. The police officers walked towards me and started cursing at me and denigrating me".

"I said that I am a journalist. I followed the ones who continued to beat the child. They tried to get hold of my footage. I told them I would not hand them my records without a directive of the prosecutor. The anti-riot forces grabbed the strap of my camera. They linked arms with me and took me to a side street. They cursed at me and pulled my hair, kicked me and started beating me. Four or five policemen tried to take my running camera off my hands", İş recalled the incident.

"I told them that their actions were not legal and that I would not hand my camera over to them without an according directive of the prosecutor. Thereupon, they started to use force. When I did not let go off my camera, they bent my finger and took the camera". (EÖ/VK)