ELCI AND OTHERS v. TURKEY JUDGMENT
34
when Mr Erten complained of the way the prisoners were being treated, he
was kicked in the face, belly and chest. Thereafter he would be kicked
whenever an official passed by.
226. After 10 to 12 days in custody, he was taken for interrogation. He
sat on a stool and was allowed to remove his blindfold but was blinded by a
very bright lamp shining directly into his face, which made it impossible to
see anyone or anything else in the room.
227. He was ordered to “tell” and when he replied that he had nothing to
say, he was beaten up. He was accused of acting as a PKK prison courier,
which he denied. He was again beaten with the light off. He was forced to
confess that he had taken several diaries, pens and cigarettes between
prisons.
228. In the narrow place where he was held, he could hear Tahir Elçi's
appalling screams, and his and Niyazi Çem's chattering teeth after they had
been hosed with cold water. He heard Meral Daniş Beştaş sobbing. He
heard someone threatening Hüsniye Ölmez with death if she did not tell all,
after which she cried, “They'll kill me. They're out to get me. If I don't die,
I'll be killed outside.” Mr Erten was slapped when he tried commiserating
with Tahir Elçi, whose clothes were wet. Mr Erten was also slapped for
chasing a fly from his face when the guard thought he was tampering with
his blindfold.
229. Two days before being brought to the Public Prosecutor he was
made to sign documents, the contents of which were unknown to him, for
fear of being beaten up again. He heard other colleagues screaming and
shouting, “Don't kill me. That's enough”, both before and after this
document session.
230. He was taken to a doctor who refused to examine the applicant
fully, just noting that the applicant had no marks on his face. The doctor did
not therefore see the marks which were left after he had been beaten on the
belly, back and the nape of his neck.
231. Two days later, around midnight, he was taken to the Public
Prosecutor, who told him that he was accused of being a PKK courier both
between prisons and between PKK members at large and prisoners. He was
also accused for the first time of carrying on his person a document
concerning the function of a PKK co-ordinator in the region.
232. Mr Erten claimed that he had been illegally framed and that the
documents allegedly found on his person were inadmissible fabrications. A
record of a purported confrontation with Abdülhakim Güven was read out to
him, but the applicant could not confirm that Mr Güven was indeed the
person who had been presented to him during an interrogation, and who
had, in a forced, hoarse voice, accused the applicant of an offence. He had
met Mr Güven when the latter was a prisoners' representative accompanying
the applicant's clients at Diyarbakır prison.