Turkey's top court orders state to pay 70,000 liras to prisoner beaten up in toilet

Duvar English

Turkey'sConstitutional Court has ordered the state to pay 70,000 TurkishLiras ($9,700) in compensation to a university student inmate afterhe was beaten up by a specialized sergeant and 10 gendarmerieofficers in a toilet.

The top court also found the 3,000 liras worth of judicial fine previously given to the specialized sergeant as too low and asked the local court that it instead impose a “deterrent” fine, daily Cumhuriyet reported on Aug. 21. The Constitutional Court asked the local court to include the other 10 gendarmerie officers as suspects as well in the criminal file.

The case concerns Fırat Can, a university student who is imprisoned in the northwestern province of Kırklareli. Can was brought to Istanbul to take his exams at Marmara University's Faculty of Communication.

Aftertaking his exams, Can was escorted by the gendarmerie to the prisonertransfer vehicle to be taken back to the Kırklareli F Type Prison.Just before he was about to get on the vehicle, the gendarmerie askedCan to take off his wedding ring. After Can denied to do so, he wastaken to a toilet by the specialized sergeant and 10 gendarmerieofficers under his command.

It was here that he “was beaten, testicles were squeezed, was insulted and his throat was hit with a stick,” Can said. After he was taken back to the Kırklareli Prison, Can filed a criminal complaint with the prosecutor's office. He also obtained a doctor's report documenting the physical assault.

The Constitutional Court described the incident as “torture” and said that Can's rights had been violated. The top court sent the file back to the local court, ordering a re-trial of the case and demanding that Can be paid 70,000 liras in compensation.