From: Press Agency Ozgurluk <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: Sun, 23 Sep 2001 18:10:05 +0200 To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [Ozgurluk] Turkey: Torture trough rape - Trial of imprisoned journalist postponed 22 September 2001, Trial of imprisoned journalist postponed Foreign journalists support their colleague Asiye Guzel Zeybek, who was imprisoned for conspiring with a Marxist organization Zeybek's lawyers say the outcome of a parallel case where the woman is suing police officers for rape while in custody is bound to impact the current one based for the most part on just this police statement The trial of Turkish journalist Asiye Guzel Zeybek for having links to an illegal Marxist organization continued yesterday at Istanbul's State Security Court (DGM). Foreign journalists and writers' organizations, including the International PEN and the Lawyers Without Borders, have expressed concern over Zeybek's condition. PEN said her four-year imprisonment without conviction is in breach of her right not be subject to arbitrary detention. Ulrika Borg and Kenneth Lewis from Lawyers Without Borders, Elizabeth Zila Olin and Kristina Hultman of the Swedish PEN and International PEN Writers in Prison Committee (WIPC) chair Eugene Schoulgin attended the trial. Prisoners Necati Albay and Arif Celebi also testified during the hearing. Zeybek and other suspects said they could not prepare their defense as they could not meet their lawyers. Defense attorney Ercan Kanar stated they were not given enough time to meet their clients in prison. Kanar said police statements from his defendants were extracted under pressure and informed the court that they would present the defense at a later hearing. Lawyer Mihriban Kirdok recalled that Zeybek's claim that she had been raped while in custody was being heard by the Istanbul Seventh Court for Major Crimes and they would wait for the verdict to prepare their defense. She asked for the acquittal of her client who she said had not been involved in any crime. Zeybek has filed complaints against eight police officers who she said tortured and raped her while under interrogation. While Istanbul University Medical Faculty professors found that she had suffered physical trauma, it was decided in Nov. 2000 not to continue with the prosecution of the police officers. Lawyers say if it turns out that Zeybek's statement was forcibly extracted, this will discredit the current case based largely on her police statement. The court postponed the case to December pending the preparation of the defense. Rape charges This is just one of over 100 accusations of reported police rape of prisoners in Turkish jails. Zeybek is still incarcerated at Gebze Prison. In Oct. 1999 she published a book which gives a graphic account of the abuse she suffered at the hands of the police: "I was thrown on the floor. It was ice cold against my skin, yet I was sweating. My eyes were blindfolded, which stopped me from seeing anything but the feet of some of the men. When I tried to get away they kicked me. When I tried to scream it wasn't my voice that I heard. They just went on shouting those dirty words at me... They took everything from me, and the only thing I wanted was to die." The International PEN WIPC has released a statement on Zeybek's case. Arrested in Feb. 1997 because of her connections with the Marxist-Leninist Communist Party, she remains in prison without trial, itself in contravention of human rights standards, four years later, says WIPC. Some 20 suspects including Zeybek face heavy prison sentences from between 3-22.5 years if found guilty of participating in, or leadership of an illegal organization, according to the indictment. Istanbul - Turkish Daily News -- Press Agency Ozgurluk In Support of the Revolutionary Peoples Liberation Struggle in Turkey http://www.ozgurluk.org _________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __________________________________________________
