ELCI AND OTHERS v. TURKEY JUDGMENT Niyazi Çem Mehmet Selim Kurbanoğlu Meral Daniş Beştaş Mesut Beştaş Vedat Erten Baki Demırhan Arif Altinkalem Gazanfer Abbasioğlu Fuat Hayri Demır Hüsniye Ölmez 23.11.93 - 10.12.93 19.11.931 - 10.12.93 16.11.93 - 10.12.93 16.11.93 - 10.12.93 23.11.93 - 10.12.93 16.11.93 - 10.12.93 16.11.93 - 10.12.93 30.11.93 - 10.12.93 03.12.93 - 10.12.93 16.11.93 - 10.12.93 15 20.12.93 - 17.02.94 15.12.93 - 17.02.94 15.12.93 - 17.02.94 10.12.93 - 17.02.94 72. At no point were the applicants ill-treated. They were dealt with in accordance with the law and their conditions of detention were acceptable. 73. On 10 December 1993 most of the applicants were brought before Judge Cafer Sadık Ural and released on bail, with the exception of Mr Elçi, Mr Acar and Ms Ölmez, who were remanded in custody. However, the Public Prosecutor of the Diyarbakır State Security Court appealed ex parte against these releases, whereupon the State Security Court ordered the rearrest of MM. Kurbanoğlu, Beştaş and Erten, who were remanded in custody. Mr and Mrs Şahin were brought before Judge İsmail Gündez on 21 December 1993 and remanded in custody. 74. As a result of the preliminary investigation, a Public Prosecutor of the Diyarbakır State Security Court, Mr Ünal Haney, drew up an indictment dated 22 December 1993 against 23 people, including the applicants in the present case and certain prison officers, on charges of being members of and acting for the PKK terrorist organisation. Some of them were accused of other serious offences, such as helping PKK terrorists procure weapons, smuggling in and out of prison proscribed materials, such as cyanide or a knife, and receiving and implementing instructions from the PKK leadership. 75. On 17 February 1994 all the applicants had their first hearing before the State Security Court and were released on bail the same day. The prosecution had three principal witnesses. The main witness was Abdülhakim Güven, the PKK repented confessor, who confirmed his allegations against the applicants. A second PKK member, Fatma Demirel, appeared in court only to retract her previous statement, which she alleged had been extracted from her under torture. She predictably claimed before the court that that part of her statement concerning the lawyers' involvement with the PKK had been drafted by gendarmes who had forced her to sign it 1 20 November 1993 according to the applicant and custody records (cf. paragraph 495 below)