Police break HDP member’s arm, hospital refuses to issue a report on the assault

OSMAN CAKLI- The Green Left Party protested the April 25 police raids conducted in 21 cities with Diyarbakir as their center in Istanbul’s Sancaktepe district. During the protests held on the evening of the arrests, four people were detained and Yildirim Bozkus, a member of the HDP in Sancaktepe, had his arm broken by the police. Bozkus, who said that protestors were detained for making victory signs, stated that he was kept at the police station with his broken arm for six to seven hours. Bozkus explained that the police threatened the detained protestors and that the hospital did not provide him with a report documenting the physical assault.

“SEE WHAT ELSE IS WAITING FOR YOU”

More than 150 people were detained in the operations centered in Diyarbakir. The detention operation, which targeted political party representatives, artists, and journalists, was protested in various locations in Istanbul. One of the places where protests took place was the Green Left Party election stand in Sancaktepe. Police intervened in the protest, which took place at the entrance of Democracy Avenue where parliamentary candidates were holding campaign events, and detained four people.

Yildirim Bozkus, an HDP member who was detained, said that the police broke his arm when they bent it backward. Bozkus stated that they were not doing anything illegal, but were only exercising their constitutional right to hold a protest, and that the police were uncomfortable with them making victory signs. Bozkus explained the incident to Arti Gercek as follows:

"On Tuesday, April 25th, our parliamentary candidate came to our election stand and gave a speech. We were gathered there listening, sitting down. When we stood up and applauded the speech, we made victory signs. We protested against the operation conducted in Diyarbakir. The police came and told us to put our hands down. We told them that we didn't do anything illegal. Two policemen grabbed my arms and bent them backward. In the detention vehicle, I had an unbearable pain in my arm. I asked them to release my hands, but they didn't. I was taken to the police station in that condition. They didn't physically assault us, but they used verbal violence. They said things like 'you'll see [what’s coming to you]', ‘see what else is waiting for you,’ 'these are your good days'."

“I WASN'T TAKEN TO THE HOSPITAL FOR HOURS”

Bozkus also said the following:

“Of course we know what else is waiting for us. They will either kill us or torture us. I told them that my arm was aching and that I needed to be taken to the hospital, but I was kept in that condition for 6 to 7 hours. Four more people were also detained with me. Even people who only wanted to film the arrests were detained. We objected to this, and the police chief spoke threateningly, saying 'I will take your picture.’"

“THEY DID NOT PROVIDE A MEDICAL REPORT OF ASSAULT"

Bozkus went to the hospital for a medical report for his injuries and was given a 9-day rest report. However, Bozkus did not look at the report in detail due to the intensity of the incident, and the next day he realized that the report was not an assault incident report. When he returned to the hospital to request the appropriate assault incident report, the hospital administration refused to provide it and sent him away, saying, “This is the only report we can provide."