72% disabled man tortured in courthouse in Diyarbakir province

A Kurdish man with 72% disability was subjected to police brutality right outside the prosecutor's office in Bismil district of Turkey’s southeastern Diyarbakir province, Mezopotamya News Agency reported. When lawyers attempted to capture footage of the incident, the prosecutor defended the police's actions, stating that "the individual was attempting to escape."

Sehmus Demir was brought to the Bismil courthouse for questioning on Wednesday evening, and when he asked for a cigarette, he was beaten by the police officers, right near the door of the prosecutor's office, lawyers said.

When lawyers arrived at the scene after hearing the commotion, they witnessed Demir being physically assaulted by the police. When they attempted to record the incident on their cell phones, the police officers took Demir to the toilet and continued to beat him while keeping the door closed. The prosecutor defended the police by saying that Demir was attempting to escape.

In their written statements, lawyers said: "We heard the sound of someone being beaten on the ground floor of the Bismil courthouse and went to investigate. When we arrived, we saw Sehmus Demir, who had been brought in for questioning, shouting 'Don't hit me, don't hit me.' According to his uncle, he hadn't smoked a cigarette since yesterday and was beaten after requesting one. After being beaten in the hallway, he was taken to the toilet and beaten again. When we tried to intervene, one of the police officers slammed the door in our faces to continue the assault.”

The lawyers have requested that the footage of the incident be examined and that Demir be taken to the hospital to receive a medical report of the assault. However, the police officers prevented them from filming the incident.