‘Dropped from helicopter,’ Şiban discharged from military hospital

* Photo: Mezopotamya Agency

Click to read the article in Turkish / Kurdish

Taken into custody by soldiers together with Servet Turgut in Turkey's eastern province of Van on September 11, Osman Şiban was hospitalized in a military hospital by force yesterday (September 22).

While the medical report has confirmed that both Turgut and Şiban were wounded by falling from a higher place, Şiban was not allowed to see his lawyers and he was reportedly hospitalized in order to find out whether he was in a state to depose. Following his medical examination at hospital, it has been indicated that Şiban is not in a medical state to depose.

Şiban: Thank God

As reported by Mezopotamya Agency, the Van Chief Public Prosecutor's Office informed Osman Şiban's family that they could take him to Turkey's Mediterranean province of Mersin if they wished. After the related procedures were completed at the military hospital, the family set off for Mersin in an ambulance, for which they had waited for a long time. Only the relatives of Şiban were allowed to travel in the ambulance.

When he was asked how he was while he was taken to the ambulance, Şiban, who is suffering from memory loss, said, "Thank God, praise be."

Currently treated in the intensive care unit of the Van Regional Training and Research Hospital, Servet Turgut is still in a critical condition.

What happened?

Taken into custody by the soldiers who launched an operation in the Çatak district of Van province on September 11, Osman Şiban (50) and Servet Turgut (55) were found in the intensive care unit of the Van Regional Training and Research Hospital two days later.

Speaking about the issue, Osman Şiban said that he and Servet Turgut were dropped from a helicopter after they had been detained and tortured by soldiers in Turkey's Kurdish-majority eastern province of Van.

As reported by Cemil Uğur from the Mezopotamya Agency (MA), the hospital epicrisis report of Şiban and Turgut was completed.

The report indicated that Şiban was taken to the Van Training and Research Hospital "with complaints of injury after falling from a helicopter."

While the "Intensive Care" section of the report referred to "falling from a higher place" as a complaint, the report further said that "they were brought to the emergency department by paramedics upon being informed by the security personnel after they had fallen from a higher place."

In a statement about the allegation that two people were dropped from a military helicopter, the Governor's Office of Van announced that a legal and administrative investigation was launched. "One of the suspects fell off the cliff and got wounded while he was fleeing," it also said.

Osman Şiban was taken to a military hospital by force on September 22. (EMK/SD)