Die Welt’s detained Turkey correspondent: ‘They arrested me to create a crisis with Germany’
Stating that he’s being held hostage because of the referendum in Turkey, detained journalist Deniz Yücel said: “They arrested me to create a crisis with Germany. It says in the warrant of arrest ‘membership of Redhack’; in prison, they said ‘FETÖ’; and, when I appeared before the court, they said ‘PKK.’"
SEBAHAT KARAKOYUN
Sebahatkarakoyun@birgun.net / @ssenyaprak
Prison screening commission of Turkey’s main opposition party CHP visited Silivri Prison to see a number of detained people along with Die Welt’s jailed journalish Deniz Yücel, college student Muhammet Ali Gül who was arrested for having recorded a ‘no’ video during the referendum campaign, advisor of CHP’s chair Fatih Gürsul, and the Altan brothers.
In the report prepared by CHP commission’s members Veliağbaba, Nurettin Demir, Şenal Sarıhan, and Necati Yılmaz after their visit, following was stated: “As a party delegation that has been monitoring prisons for years, we note here that conditions in prisons have significantly diverted from being humane; solitary confinement has become too common; and, free-visitation rights have been excessively restricted under the state of emergency laws.”
Deniz Yücel: ‘I am held hostage for the referendum’
As stated in the report, journalist Deniz Yücel said: “It says in the warrant of arrest ‘membership of Redhack’; in prison, they said ‘FETÖ’; and, when I appeared before the court, they said ‘PKK. At least, they did not say all three at the same time.”
Asserting that he has been taken hostage for the referendum, Yücel also added the following: “They arrested me to create a crisis with Germany. Two days before the referendum, the President (Erdoğan) said: ‘As long as, I am here, he (Deniz Yücel) cannot be extradited.’ I don’t have a request to be extradiated. They are bargaining over me. I get lonely; there is nobody to speak to. There are two judges staying to my right and to my left. I try talking to them loudly. One of them cannot hear well so we can’t really communicate well. My letters are not being sent and I don’t receive my mail, either.”
Muhammet Ali Gül: ‘What I was told in law school and what I see are different’
Law school student Muhammet Ali Gül said: “I am a law school student. What we learnt in lessons turn out to be lies. I learnt something here in 40 days: teachers in İstanbul University’s law department have deceived me. What they had told me and what I am going through are completely the opposite. I have no arms in my hands; I only recorded a video to express my view.”
Atilla Taş: 'If contacting ByLock users is a crime, everybody would be guilty'
...Singer Atilla Taş, who was arrested again after having beeen released, mentioned that he is being accused for having been called by users of ByLock: “How would I know a person that calls me is a user of ByLock. If this is the case, there should be no parliamentarian left in AKP. If having contact with a ByLock user is a crime, then, everybody is guilty.”