Turkey/Journalism: Metin Goktepe update

Fri Oct 10 06:43:25 BST 1997

Murder Witness Says Turkish Police Beat Journalist

AFYON, Turkey, Oct 9 (Reuter) - A witness in a controversial Turkish
murder case on Thursday identified policemen defendants as the
officers he had seen beating leftist journalist Metin Goktepe who
later died of his wounds.

"I saw eight or ten policemen beating him. Goktepe fainted but they
carried on beating him," witness Deniz Ozcan told the court in the
Western town of Afyon.

Ozcan said eight of the 11 police defendants present in the tense
courtroom had beaten Goktepe, who was found dead from blows to the
head hours later.

Goktepe was one of scores of people rounded up for identity checks in
January 1996 after the funerals of two left-wing prisoners.

Another witness said police had beaten many people in the sports hall
to which the detainees had been taken. "Everyone was being hit," Ali
Ekber Palabiyik said.

A defence lawyer described the witnesses' testimony as "lies." No
official plea is needed under Turkish law.

Allegations of police torture and brutality in Turkey are common but
convictions rare. The charges cause friction between Turkey and its
Western allies.

The hearing took place under heavy security with human rights
protesters encamped outside the court chanting and waving banners.

The case has been delayed after being transferred to different
provinces from Megaköy for what officials described as security
reasons. Rights activists say the moves were part of attempts to keep
the case out of the public eye.

The court adjourned until its next hearing in November and decided to
stage a reconstruction of the events leading to Goktepe's death.

-- 
Press Agency Ozgurluk
The Struggle for justice, democracy and human rights in Turkey and Kurdistan
http://www.ozgurluk.org                          
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