Human Rights Foundation of Turkey Documentation Center[1][2][3][4][5]
7 May 2024 Daily Human Rights Report
(05/052) Torture and Other Ill-Treatment in Prison…
It is learned from the news coverage of May 4, 2024, that Uğur Ürün and İlhami İşçi in Antep Islahiye T Type Prison were subjected to verbal and physical violence by the correction officers during a ward search on March 26, 2024, and were threatened by the correction officers with the words “Did you live through the Esat Oktay period? If not, welcome…Of course you did not experience Mehmet Ağar’s era, I will make you experience more” and it is learned that the medical doctor on duty at the prison infirmary did not examine the prisoners and made a report on the prisoners who had marks on their bodies due to physical violence, with the words ‘minor rashes’.
It is learned from the news coverage of May 6, 2024, that Hamdusena Ada, a prisoner in Diyarbakır High-Security Prison No 1, was transferred to another prison against his will, and his family was not informed about the transfer.
It is learned from the news coverage of May 7, 2024, that Veysi Aktaş, Hamili Yıldırım and Ömer Hayri Konar, PKK Leader Abdullah Öcalan who are kept in İmralı F Type High-Security Prison, were given a ban on family visits for 3 months on April 12, 2024.
It is learned from the news coverage of May 7, 2024, that 35 prisoners in Urfa T Type Prison No 1 and 2 were transferred to other prisons against their will within the last 45 days and their families were not informed about the transfers.
(05/053) Meeting Request with Abdullah Öcalan not Responded to…
It is learned that the appeal made on May 7, 2024, to the chief public prosecutor’s office in Bursa by lawyers in order to visit their clients PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan, Ömer Hayri Konar, Hamili Yıldırım and Veysi Aktaş in İmralı Prison was not responded by Bursa Public Prosecutor’s Office.
(05/054) Arrested Journalist…
Journalist Hakan Gülseven was arrested and sent to prison on May 6, 2024, after his 1 year and 8 months prison sentence was upheld by the 3rd Criminal Chamber of Trabzon Regional Court of Appeals.
Journalist Gülseven shared a photo of a person who was circulated with the claim that he was responsible for the restoration of the Maiden’s Tower on his social media accounts by re-commenting on it. Later, the person whose photo was shared filed a complaint against Gülseven for ‘insult’ after it was revealed that he was not responsible for the restoration. The insult lawsuit resulted in acquittal. Afterward, another lawsuit was filed against Gülseven for “unlawfully obtaining or disseminating personal data”. At the end of the trial, Trabzon Penal Court of First Instance No. 1 sentenced Gülseven to 1 year and 8 months in prison on the same grounds.
(05/055) Party Executive, Members, and Others Detained in Urfa…
On May 7, 2024, 14 people including Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) Bozova District Executive and Youth Assembly members were detained in house raids in Urfa. The reason for the detention is not known. The names of the detainees are Muzaffer Akcan, Bünyamin Demir, Şirin Aktaş, Leyla Dağhan, Meyaser Korkmaz, Kemal Çakmak, Nuh Albayrak, DEM Party Bozova District Executive Hüseyin Aslan, Kemal Aslan, Mehmet Aslan, Mehmet Emin Açıkgöz, İsmail Topkan, Serhat İşlek, Aziz Taşkın.
(05/056) Director Detained in Izmir…
Koray Kesik, a documentary filmmaker and cinematographer who was detained in a house raid in Izmir on May 2, 2024, and whose detention period was extended 3 times for 24 hours, was released by the criminal peace judgeship on May 6, 2024, on judicial control condition.
(05/057) Interventions against May 1st Celebrations…
11 of 12 people who were detained on May 5, 2024, for participating in May 1 celebrations in Istanbul, were arrested by the Criminal Peace Judgeship on May 6, 2024, on the allegations of ‘violating the Law on Meetings and Demonstrations No 2911’, ‘resisting to prevent duty’ and ‘damaging public property’. 1 person was released on judicial control condition. With the arrest of 11 people, the number of people arrested for the May 1 celebrations increased to 49.
(05/058) Dargeçit JİTEM Case…
It is learned from the news coverage of May 7, 2024, that Adıyaman Heavy Penal Court No 1 acquitted 18 people on the charge of ‘premeditated murder’ about the forced disappearance of 7 people including 3 children who were detained in the Dargeçit district of Mardin between October 29, 1995, and March 8, 1996, and the disappearance of Specialist Sergeant Bilal Batırır who was alleged to have given information to their families.
(05/059) People on Trial for the Killing of Gina Mercimek in Kilis…
On May 6, 2024, the final trial of the case against H. B. and A. A. on the charges of ‘murder with monstrous feeling’, ‘sexual assault of a child’ and ‘deprivation of liberty of a person’ in relation to the killing of Syrian child Gina Mercimek (9, f) on April 4, 2023, after being subjected to sexual abuse, was held at Kilis Heavy Penal Court No 2. The court sentenced H. B. to aggravated life imprisonment and acquitted A. A.
(05/060) Association Executive on Trial…
It is learned from the news coverage of May 5, 2024, that Sinan Kırmızıçiçek, executive board chair of Düzgün Baba Cemevi in Tunceli, was sentenced to 7 years and 6 months by Tunceli Heavy Penal Court No 1 in 2018, on the charges of ‘being a member of an illegal organization’ and ‘making propaganda for an illegal organization’ for events and press declarations he participated in, and that his sentence was approved by Penal Department No 3 of the Court of Cassation.
(05/061) Artist on Trial in Tunceli…
On May 7, 2024, Tunceli Heavy Penal Court No 2 started to hear the case against singer Pınar Aydınlar on the grounds of the songs she sang at a festival in 2023 and her social media posts. The court sentenced Pınar Aydınlar to 1 year, 6 months, and 22 days for ‘making propaganda for an illegal organization’.
(05/062) People on Trial in Mardin…
The final trial of the case against 21 people was held at Mardin Heavy Penal Court No 3 on May 6, 2024. The court sentenced 13 people (Abdülhamit Aksoy, Bedirhan Ektiren, Bedirhan Eye, Bedran Savucu, Cengiz Gezer, İhsan Demir, Mahmut Aktaş, Mehmet Bilgen, Mehmet Sıddık Aksak, Mehmet Şirin Eye, Ramazan Özdoğan, Semih Bilgen and Tarık Ektiren) to 6 years and 3 months each for ‘being a member of an illegal organization’ and acquitted 8 people (Adil Dölcek, Hamdullah Duran, İbrahim Ektiren, Mehmet Sıddık Şanlı, Nurettin Ektiren, Remzi Kıran, Sedat Mercen and Zeynep Demir).
(05/063) Women on Trial in Istanbul…
The first trial of the case against 3 women who were detained with torture and ill-treatment during the police intervention against a peaceful demonstration against the detention of Turkish Medical Association (TTB) Chair and Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (HRFT) board member Prof. Dr. Şebnem Korur Fincancı on October 26, 2022, in Istanbul, and who called then Istanbul Security Branch Director Hanifi Zengin a ‘harasser’, started on May 7, 2024, at Istanbul Anadolu Penal Court of First Instance No 27. The indictment demands a sentence for 3 people on the charge of ‘insult’. The court adjourned the hearing to October 22, 2024.
(05/064) Indictment Prepared against a Person Due to Social Media Posts in Istanbul…
It is learned from the news coverage of May 7, 2024, that Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office issued an indictment against a person who shared a photo of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on his social media account after the February 6, 2023 earthquakes and said ‘I wish you would be tried’. The indictment demands a sentence for the person on the charge of ‘insulting the President’.
[1]The reports on the human rights violations of the Documentation Center are claims unless they are certified. The claim of violation either is certified through thoroughly investigations of HRFT Documentation Center, including by judicial verdicts, and becomes a definite data or it is not included to the annual report.
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[5] Daily Human Rights Reports are prepared on the information gathered by the Documentation Center from its own network and the following dailies and internet portals: Vatan, Milliyet, Hürriyet, Habertürk, Evrensel, Birgün, Cumhuriyet, Fırat Haber Ajansı, Jinnews, ETHA, Mezopotamya Ajansı, Yurt, Yeni Yaşam, NTV, Yeni Asya, Bianet, Halkinsesi.tv, Cnnturk, Tr724, İleri Haber, Siyasi Haber, Alınteri, Kızılbayrak, Sendika.org, Yüksekova Haber, T24, Diken, Gazete Karınca, Gazete Duvar. Haber Sol, El Cezire, BBC, Deutsche Welle, Reuters, AFP.