ELCI AND OTHERS v. TURKEY JUDGMENT 74 found with incriminating PKK or “ERNK” documents. Those who had signed statements at the gendarmerie said that they had been forced to do so. 505. Şinasi Tur and Sebahattim Acar specified that the severe torture of Mmes Beştaş and Ölmez and MM. Elçi and Çem had scared them into signing. 506. Mr Elçi alleged that he had been tortured, as had Mr Çem and Ms Ölmez. This was confirmed by Mr Çem in his statement to the Prosecutor, who also alleged that Mrs Beştaş had beeen tortured. The latter declared that she had been kept blindfolded in a cell and tortured. MM. Beştaş and Erten alleged they had been tortured, as did Ms Ölmez. 507. Several applicants said they had not been confronted with Mr Güven, one reason being that, as they had been blindfolded, they could not identify anyone who spoke to them. They all repudiated the confrontation records with Mr Güven and / or his statements about them. 11. Record of the applicants' interrogation by Cafer Sadik Ural, the Investigating Judge, on 10 December 1993 a) Baki Demırhan 508. Mr Demırhan refuted the charges read out to him by the Investigating Judge. He had had no relationship with the PKK other than acting as a defence counsel. He had not acted as a courier between prisons (especially Gaziantep prison where he had never set foot). Nor had he brought into prison any knife. At that time lawyers were searched before being admitted into the prison, so carrying in a knife would have been impossible. He knew Abdülhakim Güven, who was angry with Mr Demırhan for dissuading his brother from joining the PKK. 509. Mr Demırhan rejected the statement he had signed under pressure at the gendarmerie and the allegations of Mr Güven against him. He therefore repudiated the confrontation record concerning the latter. He denied having been confronted with him at all. b) Gazanfer Abbasioğlu 510. Mr Abbasioğlu rejected the charges read out to him as groundless, as well as his statement to the gendarmes. He denied the accusations of Mr Güven with whom he had been purportedly confronted, but as he had been blindfolded he had not been able to identify him fully. He had been punched at that moment. He had not acted as a courier for him and had only signed the statements because he had been scared by the screams of Tahir Elçi, Meral Daniş Beştaş and Niyazi Çem when they had been tortured for a long time with cold water.