ELCI AND OTHERS v. TURKEY JUDGMENT
53
of attitude was probably due to reformulated questions which had been
drawn up after the first interrogation had been analysed by his superiors.
374. The lawyers were confronted with Mr Güven, who spoke first and
to whom the detainees responded. They knew Mr Güven but disagreed
about certain matters amongst themselves. However, there were no
significant contradictions.
375. Mr Kiricki refused to comment on whether he should have further
questioned those lawyers who refused to sign their statements. Then he
explained that those had been busy days; the applicants' detention periods
were coming to an end; there was little time left; he had taken statements
from them; he accepted any refusal not to sign and, anyway, the Public
Prosecutor was to take another statement.
376. Interrogations took place in the morning, after breakfast. The
detainee would then have lunch and dinner. He would be taken to the toilet
as needed and given water when it was requested. Interrogations varied in
length from two to two and a half hours and could have been every day.
377. In the interrogation room spotlights were trained on the detainee so
he could not see the interrogator, who sat at a desk. The closed circuit video
system was on the back wall.
378. The inability to see the interrogator was a security precaution and
had a psychological effect on the detainee. He took notes of the
interrogation. Later the detainee would be taken to an interview room where
his statement would be taken by a transcriber in his presence. Blindfolds
were not forbidden, but were not used. He was not in fear of his safety in the
interview room when he could be seen by the detainee.
379. Mr Kirikçi could not recall why Mr Özer's name appeared on
Mr Şahin's statements. Mr Özer was one of the 9 or 10 people who made up
the interrogation team.
380. He had not signed the record of Mrs Şahin's statement and could
not recall the reason for that. He had interrogated her. A colleague must
have signed it when he saw that Mr Kiriçki's signature was missing.
381. During interrogations, he communicated with the persons in the
adjacent room with microphones and a closed circuit system.
28. Hüseyin Gazi Ateş
382. Mr Ateş was born in 1967 and at the material time was working as
a typist at the investigation and interrogation branch headquarters. He had
typed the statements of the 16 lawyers in the presence of the interrogator
and each suspect. He typed what the suspect had said. He could not
understand the question whether it was the interrogator who read out his
notes, which the suspect would just confirm. He had never experienced a
situation where the suspect disagreed with the interrogator about what the
former had said on a previous occasion.