Hospital reports prove two men detained in Turkey's east were thrown from military helicopter

Duvar English

Two men who were detained in the Çatak district of the eastern province of Van and who were taken to a hospital by soldiers were thrown from a military helicopter, hospital records have confirmed.

Osman Şiban and Servet Turgut were heavily injured and taken to a hospital after soldiers detained them earlier this month in an anti-terror operation.

No information could be obtained on their whereabouts for two days following their detention. Their families were then able to locate them at a hospital in Van on Sept. 11.

According to hospital records, the two men were brought to the hospital for "getting injured after falling from a helicopter," Mesopotamia News Agency reported.

Epicrisis reports of Şiban and Turgut also featured the phrase "falling from a high place."

Governor's Office: He fell in a rocky area when trying to escape

Van Governor's Office, meanwhile, denied that the two men were thrown from a helicopter, saying that Turgut "fell in a rocky area when trying to escape from soldiers."

While Şiban suffers from memory loss, Turgut remains in critical condition. Şiban was discharged from the hospital on Sept. 20.

However, he was once again taken to a military hospital by force upon the orders of the Van Chief Public Prosecutor's Office early on Sept. 22.

The agency said that the prosecutor's office asked the hospital to give a report on whether Şiban will give his testimony, to which the hospital replied by saying that he can't.

One in critical condition, another suffers from memory loss due to police torture in Turkey's east

He was then allowed the leave the hospital and headed to his hometown, the southern province of Mersin, with his family in an ambulance.

Lawyers of the two men said that those who brought Şiban and Turgut to the hospital told hospital officials that they were thrown from a helicopter.

"This is also included in the hospital reports," they told news portal bianet.

'They threw us'

They also said that they talked to Şiban on the incident, but that he can't describe what happened after the detention.

"Osman Şiban was able to tell us that they were detained, but he can't tell describe what happened after they were detained. He sometimes says, 'They threw us,'" they added.

The lawyers also slammed the fact that Şiban was forcefully taken to a military hospital.

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"The prosecutor told us that his current state will be checked to see whether he can give his testimony. But a gendarmerie officer spilled the beans and said, 'This issue was on social media, so we're afraid. We bought him here to keep him at our sight,'" the lawyers said.

"The prosecutor told us that there weren't any detention warrants. You can't take anyone to a military hospital by force if there are no warrants," they added.

HDP urges government to clarify what happened

The Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), meanwhile, urged the government to clarify what happened, citing hospital reports.

"Even though 10 days have passed since the incident, neither the government nor the local authorities have released a statement. If these crimes are not committed upon the orders of the government, it should release a statement immediately," the HDP said.

"Otherwise, this silence will go down in history as the confession and acceptance of a crime."

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