Fascism in Turkey - Torture of Childeren - Manisa Update

[english at ozgurlluk.xs4all.nl]

(23/10) Turkish Police Defy Court Order

MANISA, Turkey (AP) - In a trial laying bare Turkey's human rights
problems, 10 police officers accused of torture have defied a court
order to show up for their trial.

The court has refused to order them arrested and has not ordered any
punishment for their continued refusal to attend the trial, which has
been going on for a year now.  

On Wednesday, the court ruled that their accusers, 15 youths aged 15
to 21, would have to identify their attackers from photographs.
Turkey is widely criticized for human rights abuses, including torture
by the s ecurity forces. Security officials are rarely punished. Their
trials often last years and, when convicted, they generally get
brief, suspended sentences.
  
The youths say they were tortured while in police custody in 1995 in
Manisa, 30 miles east of the Aegean port of Izmir.  They were arrested
by police for allegedly putting up political slogans and kep t in jail
for a year while their trial went on.  They were eventually convicted
of belonging to an outlawed leftist group and given lengthy prison
sentences.  

A similar case involving police officers accused of beating a
journalist to death became a rallying cry for human rights advocates.
After domestic and international outcry, the officers were finally
arrested and forced to attend their trial.


For background information on this case see:
http://www.ozgurluk.org/pub/manisa.html

-- 
Press Agency Ozgurluk
For justice, democracy and human rights in Turkey and Kurdistan!
Website: http://www.ozgurluk.org                          
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