(RSF/IFEX) – “Unacceptable! two years to get to this point!…”: it was with these words that Metin Goktepe’s mother reacted to the announcement of the verdict in the trial of the police officers convicted in the death of her son. On 19 March 1998, five of the eleven police officers accused of having beaten Goktepe […]
(RSF/IFEX) – “Unacceptable! two years to get to this point!…”: it was with
these words that Metin Goktepe’s mother reacted to the announcement of the
verdict in the trial of the police officers convicted in the death of her
son. On 19 March 1998, five of the eleven police officers accused of having
beaten Goktepe to death were sentenced to seven and a half years in prison
for involuntary homicide by the Court of Assizes of Afyon (in western
Turkey). The six other police officials who had been accused were acquitted.
Prosecutors announced that they would appeal.
**Updates IFEX alerts of 13 March, 17 February, and 9 January 1998; 1
December, 10 November, 9 October, 17 September, 22 August, and 30 July 1997;
and others**
Background Information
Goktepe, journalist with the extreme left daily “Evrensel”, was beaten to
death by police at the Eyup sports complex in Istanbul on 8 January 1996.
Goktepe was covering the funerals of two prisoners killed during the
suppression of a revolt at an Istanbul prison.
Under pressure by the public and media, the trial of the eleven police
officers accused of Goktepe’s murder began in October 1996 in Aydin (600 km
southwest of Istanbul). Authorities appeared reticent to collaborate fully
with the justice system. At the same time, eyewitnesses and Goktepe’s family
faced pressure throughout the trial. Finally, for “security” reasons, the
trial was moved to Afyon (about 600km south of Istanbul).
On 24 January 1997, the police officers implicated in the incident gave
their statements before a tribunal in Eyup, which they later said were
obtained through the use of torture. After the eleven officers were charged
in August 1997, they did not come before the court until a month later. The
Afyon Court released four of the nine officers who had been detained.
On 6 November 1997, the president of the Court asked to be discharged from
the case, under the pretense that several Turkish and foreign organizations
were attempting to put pressure on the court. A new president was appointed
and fact-gathering began in Eyup on 5 January 1998. On 13 February 1998, the
prosecutor of the Afyon Court of Assizes asked for prison sentences of eight
to fifteen years for the six police officers who were still in detention.
RSF considers the verdict unacceptable and unjust. RSF reminds Prime
Minister Mesut Yilmaz of his solemn declaration that the Goktepe trial and
verdict would be a test for Turkey’s treatment of human rights violations.
However, the indications are that Turkey has not changed. Police or army
officials benefit from a certain clemency before the law that ordinary
citizens do not enjoy. RSF expresses its hope that senior police officials
who were implicated in Goktepe’s murder will be brought to justice.
As the lenient Goktepe verdict was announced, police raided the offices of
the pro-Kurdish newspaper “Ulkede Gundem” in Istanbul, where four
journalists were detained.
