Family of inmate decries prosecution for downplaying torture

Prosecutor's Office in Turkey’s southern city of Adana filed a lawsuit against nine prison guards charging them with inflicting "deliberate injury by exceeding the limit regarding the authority to use force," while the family of the inmate insisted the guards should be charged with “torture.”

Footage recorded by the security cameras inside the Adana Penitentiary clearly showed three guardians beating and caning the soles of Caner Sahin’s feet, who is currently serving a jail sentence of over 12 years for “causing injury with a firearm.”

The torture claim was confirmed by a legal expert who analyzed the video footage.

“A person appears lying on his back with his feet up in the air. A prison guard who leans on the person who is laid on the ground beats this person. On the other hand, it was clearly seen that a prison guard hit the person lying on the ground in the bastinado position with the object in his hand (possibly a truncheon) under the feet of the person," the report by the legal expert said.

In the indictment submitted to the Adana Criminal Court, prosecutors demanded six months to 1.5 years for eight prison guards who were charged with "deliberate injury” and six months to two years for one other for "not reporting the crime".