PRESS STATEMENT from Suna Coşkun (Halil Savada's Lawyer)

02.02.2007

To the press and public opinion,

My client Halil Savda was arrested on Dec. 7, 2006 at the court where he went in order to attend his ongoing trial regarding his conscientous objection.

As his trial continued, my client was released to be tried without custody on January 25, 2007.

After he was released,  Halil Savda was sent to the Tekirdağ Beşiktepe 8^th Mechanized Brigade. Although he is a conscientous objector and despite his having stated this during the previous trial process and having been tried for this reason, he was again asked to wear military uniform. Halil Savda then repeated that he is a conscientous objector and that he shall not perform military service. Upon this statement, an official report was filed and Halil was presented to the Çorlu Military Prosecutor with the charge of “insistent insubordination.” 

Instead of taking Halil Savda's statement about his action, the Military Prosecutor in Çorlu shouted at and reprimanded Halil Savda, referring to Halil's previous trials and claiming that Halil went there for making PKK propaganda and that the prosecutor will not allow it. As a result of this, Halil Savda said  he will not give a statement in these conditions and did not give a statement.   

The Military Prosecutor sent Halil Savda back to the military unit again in order to be tried without custody. On 26 January 2007, Friday, Halil Savda was subject to ill treatment at the Disciplinary Ward of the 8^th Mechanized Brigade. At the ward, a sergeant major who was the disciplinary officer, two guardians and an officer pushed Halil to the wall face-on, kicked his legs apart and began hitting him. Having kept kicking Halil on the floor where he fell while yelling “you are a traitor, you are a terrorist,” the authorities tried to silence Halil from crying out by shoving a dirty gag in his mouth. Because of the blows he received, Halil Savda's face is swollen and his lips cracked and bled. 

Later these same authorities wanted to search Halil and kept harrassing him during the search as well and demanded him to take his his clothes off. To prevent them from harrassing him further, Halil stripped to his underwear. After putting his clothes back on, Halil was taken to a room with nothing to sit or sleep on. Halil was kept here for 3 days, forced to sleep on the cement and was not even given a blanket. Halil Savda held a 5-day huger strike in protest of  this inhumane treatment until he met with his lawyer. The commander of the Disciplinary Ward came in on Monday and intervened in the situation. Halil stated that his condition has improved. Halil Savda's judicial process has now taken on an indefinite state and has been left to the arbitrary and the subjective policies of the Çorlu Military Prosecutor.