20-year-old recounts days of detention: 'Handcuffed behind my back for hours...'

Tuna Boylu, a 20-year-old university student who was arrested following the Saraçhane rallies—held in support of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Mayor and CHP presidential candidate Ekrem İmamoğlu—and was released recently after being sent to Silivri Prison on March 23 following his initial detention on March 19, recounted his experiences throughout the process. 

Boylu described his arrest with the following words: “The police called me over. I went and said, ‘At your service, sir.’ He grabbed my arm, said ‘Take this one too,’ and they threw me face down on the ground, handcuffed behind my back. They kept us waiting in a bus in front of the police headquarters for 6-7 hours with our hands cuffed behind our backs. We started to lose feeling in our arms.”

Boylu, who was detained for approximately 20 days, said regarding healthcare services at the Marmara Prison in Silivri: “A 5-minute trip to the hospital turns into 10 hours. The hospital is already in very poor condition in terms of hygiene; it is filthy. We go, the doctor prescribes medication. The answer they give us is, ‘Your medication will arrive within a week.’”

THEY GATHERED TO SUPPORT ÖZDAĞ

Over the weekend, youth members of the Victory Party (Zafer Partisi) gathered at the vigil area set up by party members across from the Silivri Marmara Prison to show support for the party's chairman, Ümit Özdağ. 

One of the attendees was university student Tuna Boylu, who had been arrested following the protest actions that took place after the March 19 operation and was recently released.

"I FOUND MYSELF UNDER ARREST”

The 20-year-old Boylu, who made statements, noted that he had attended the rally in Saraçhane by exercising his constitutional right to protest: “I was going to go home after the rally. Tram services had been stopped, and I missed the last tram. I had to stay there. Then there was a commotion, and people suddenly started running away. I was caught in the middle and pulled to a corner. The police saw me and called me over. I went to them and said, ‘At your service, sir.’ He grabbed my arm, they said ‘Take this one too,’ and they threw me face down on the ground, handcuffed behind my back. Then they loaded us onto the bus one by one. I found myself under arrest,” he said.

"THEY KEPT US HANDCUFFED BEHIND OUR BACKS FOR 6-7 HOURS"

Stating that they waited for hours on a bus in front of the Istanbul Police Department on Vatan Street after being detained, Boylu explained that they were given only dry bread and water as food in the holding cells at the police headquarters and that they experienced major problems regarding toilet access. 

Boylu spoke as follows:

“They kept us waiting in a bus in front of the Vatan Police Headquarters for 6-7 hours with our hands cuffed behind our backs. We started to lose feeling in our arms. The holding cell was very bad. The food was extremely poor. Just dry bread and water. The toilet was a problem; they wouldn't let us out. Some had to relieve themselves in bottles.” 

"THERE WERE 47 OF US IN THE WARD"

Explaining that he was first taken to Metris Prison and then transferred to Silivri Prison after being detained and arrested, Boylu said: “Metris was slightly better than the holding cell, but still, whether it was the food or the hygiene, the conditions were not very pleasant. Silivri was relatively better, but Silivri also has a problem with overcrowding. There were 47 of us in the ward, and we had friends sleeping on the floor. There were also friends sleeping on bunk beds in common areas. We heard that they were going to disperse us among other common criminals, so we raised our voices to prevent this. That is why they opened a separate ward for us, and we stayed only with those arrested from Saraçhane,” he stated.

"HEALTHCARE SERVICES WERE VERY TROUBLESOME"

Boylu described the difficulty he faced in obtaining the medication he said he needed to use every day during his prison stay and the problems he experienced with healthcare services in prison: “I could not obtain my medication. For about 2 weeks, they did not provide our medication. Healthcare services were already very troublesome. Hospital conditions were terrible. We are about to go to the hospital, and they make us wait for 3 hours in a holding cell. The hospital is already in very poor condition in terms of hygiene; it is filthy. We are also made to wait in line in a holding cell there. We go, the doctor prescribes medication. The answer they give us is, ‘Your medication will arrive within a week.’ We are sick, we need urgent medication. What am I supposed to do with medication that comes in a week? They say a tender needs to be opened, it needs to be procured from the hospital. When being taken back, we go to the holding cell again, and when we go to the prison, we go to the holding cell there too. A 5-minute trip to the hospital turns into 10 hours. We dealt with these kinds of processes.”

“I WENT TO EXERCISE MY CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS; THEY STOLE 20 DAYS OF MY LIFE FOR NOTHING”

Stating that he missed his exams and could not submit his project assignments during this process, Boylu said: “First of all, I am definitely not a provocateur. I did not do anything wrong to the Turkish police, nor did I rebel against my state. I went to exercise my constitutional rights. I believe I was imprisoned without cause. They stole 20 days of my life for nothing. Justice was served, albeit late; may the same happen for the other young people and for Ümit Hoca. Our exams started, I missed them. We will file a petition for make-up exams,” he said.

News Source: 12punto