Mikail Tekin, who was detained in Jamioulx Prison in Belgium, was exposed to physical violence before he died. The three prison guards on suspicion have been interrogated but not arrested.
31-year-old Tekin had been arrested for beating someone in 2006. In the meantime he had been transferred to hospital for medical treatment but was returned to prison on 7 August. According to Belgium Radio Television RTBF, Tekin's family does not believe that he died because of health reasons.
Tekin's lawyer was quoted as saying by RTBF: "My client should not have been sent back to the highly unsuitable conditions in prison." Furthermore, he said that the autopsy of Tekin's body was done on 9 August.
A delegate from the Belgium Human Rights Foundation reported to the Turkish news channel NTV that since human rights in Belgium have been deteriorating over the last couple of years, it would be very difficult to hold prison personnel responsible unless an eyewitness could be found.
Turkey requested information from Belgium about Tekin case
The result of the autopsy proved that there were marks of injuries on Tekin's body. When the prison management announced Tekin suffocated while eating, other convicts started a revolt, claiming that they had seen Tekin being tortured when he had been taken back to his cell.
Tekin's brother Cebrail Tekin explained to NTV: "The police took my brother into custody because they wanted to take his statement. Later on he was transferred to hospital for check-ups. Half an hour later three people come and drag him away, dragging him by his throat. We were informed in the morning and I talked to the public prosecutor. He told us that the autopsy proved means of torture and that we could go to court. The doctors told the truth. This is the third death of a Turkish citizen. The other files have been closed but this one will not be closed."
Cebrail Tekin argued that his brother Mikail was treated in hospital because of a health problem and that he had been taken back to prison on the grounds of a false result.
Moreover, Cebrail Tekin mentioned that the prison with a capacity for 280 people is outrageously overmanned with 480 convicts and that Tekin's family pushed for the autopsy. His brother's funeral took place in the Turkish city of Sivas yesterday (12 August).
Zafer Üskül, head of the Turkish Parliament Human Rights Investigation Commission, requested information from the head of the Belgium Parliament Justice Commission about statements and progress regarding Mikail Tekin's situation.
Investigation on the murder of Çakmakçı in the Netherlands
The Amsterdam police formed a team of thirty people to investigate the murder of Turkish businesswoman Arzu Erbaş Çakmakçı, who had been stabbed to death when she was getting into her car.
Çakmakçı owned a day care centre in the Netherlands. The police reported that a father of one child in the nursery had continuously threatened Çakmakçı before she was killed. (EÖ)
