The sister of Engin Çeber, who died as a result of police torture, was sexually assaulted by one of the defendants in the case being heard at the Bakırköy 14th Heavy Penal Court in Istanbul at the hearing on Wednesday, 15th April.
Şerife Tekin accused Salim Geniş, a prison officer who is being tried in the torture case without detention, of touching her in a sexual manner in a very crowded court room.
A lawyer of the People’s Law Office, Taylan Tanay, told bianet that the court room had been too small to hold an estimated 160 people.
"Deliberate assault"
He emphasised that what happened was not sexual harrassment, but a sexual assault, saying that the defendant used his hands repeatedly to touch her.
“Why should Tekin, whose brother was killed with torture, claim that she was attacked if there was no reason. Why should a woman in so much pain do that? In addition, there is a certain order in a court room. When defendants normally wait in the area reserved for them and the defence lawyers, then it must be deliberately if he came near Tekin. In addition, five lawyers and Habertürk reporter Gökay Usaymaz witnessed the sexual attack.”
Police tried to cover up the event
The lawyer said that they immediately filed a complaint after the attack, saying that the police first tried to gain time by saying that Geniş did not have any ID on him.
“However, it is impossible to get into the court building for a case with such high security without ID. The security forces were lying in order to cover up the event. Geniş later made a statement at the Osmaniye police station and was then released.”
Tekin made a statement when she left the court building, saying: “They tortured my brother, they did all kinds of dirty things, and now they have attacked me sexually. I cannot believe how they dared to do that in a court room.”
Of the 60 people being tried in the case, only 6 are in detention. 850 lawyers have applied for joint attorney status. Five lawyers have been admitted. The defendants have around 20 defence lawyers, and there is also court personnel. According to Tanay, for each hearing around 150-160 people are in the court room.
Detention, torture, death
Engin Ceber (29) was a Turkish human rights activist who was tortured and killed while in police custody. Mehmet Ali Sahin, Turkey's justice minister apologized and announced that 19 officials had been suspended pending investigation.
Ceber was arrested after he issued a press release protesting that the shooting of a left-wing human rights activist by the police, which resulted in his paralysis, has not been investigated or punished by the authorities.
He was sent to a prison in Istanbul, where he was severely beaten. After complaining to his lawyer, he was sent to a hospital, where he fell into a coma, dying of brain hemorrhage on 8 October 2008.
Amnesty International criticized Turkey's human rights record, arguing that the death is "further proof that torture and ill-treatment are rife in places of detention in Turkey", despite the government "zero-tolerance" against torture. (EZÖ/AG)
