ELCI AND OTHERS v. TURKEY JUDGMENT 6 wrought irreparable damage on his professional and family life. (For further details see the summary of their oral evidence, §§ 103-122 below.) 3. The case of Nevzat Kaya 27. On the afternoon of 18 November 1993, three armed gendarmes carried out a search of Mr Kaya's office, with his consent, which was described in a report which he signed. He was taken to the Diyarbakır provincial gendarmerie command and was required to hand over his personal effects, which were noted. Nothing incriminating was found. He was then taken for a medical examination before being handed over to the JITEM (the Gendarmerie's Intelligence and Anti-Terror Department). 28. JITEM officers blindfolded the applicant after putting him in a vehicle. The ensuing journey lasted 25 to 30 minutes. In the vehicle he was asked what connections he had with the PKK and was slapped and threatened with death if he did not speak. The applicant denied support for the PKK and acknowledged that some of the clients he was defending professionally, charging fees, were accused of PKK offences. The applicant claimed that he was later taken to an unknown place where his identity was recorded, after which he was taken to a room and ordered to squat on the floor. He heard people screaming and very loud music was played. 29. During the evening of the following day, the applicant was interrogated. He was accused of being the PKK's lawyer and ordered to explain himself. The applicant insisted that he had no relations with the PKK other than in his authorised professional capacity as a defence lawyer. The applicant alleged that he was then ill-treated. He was confronted with Abdülhakim Güven who stated that the applicant had organised the PKK lawyers, which the applicant denied. He had met Mr Güven, a prisoners' representative, when he had visited clients at the Diyarbakır E-type prison. 30. The next day the applicant returned to the interrogation room where the torture was repeated, accompanied by threats to damage his sexual organs. The applicant wrote a statement himself denying any connection with the PKK. All detainees were blindfolded and slept on a concrete floor. Half a loaf of bread and two visits to the toilet were offered per day. On the seventh or eighth day of custody, the applicant and his colleagues decided to carry out a hunger strike, which lasted two and a half days. 31. On the night of 8 December 1993, the detainees were called up one by one and ordered to sign a number of documents, followed by more illtreatment. The applicant did not sign during the first session. At the second session Fuat Hayri Demir told the applicant that everyone else had signed. He was then forced to sign documents without reading them, so their contents were unknown to him. Because of the bad state of health of his colleagues - MM. Elçi and Çem and Mmes Beştaş and Ölmez - on 9 December 1993, no one was taken to court that day.