Forty-two-year-old Turkish teacher Gökhan Açıkkollu, who was tortured to death under police custody in the wake of a controversial military coup attempt on July 15, 2016 over his alleged links to the Gülen movement, would be acquitted from the charge of alleged involvement in the coup attempt if he could survive.
Açıkkollu was detained on July 24, 2016 on trumped-up charges of coup plotting and terrorism and remained in police custody for 13 days, during which time he was subjected to both physical and psychological torture. He was never officially interrogated, and the police did not even take a statement from him. Instead, he was taken from his detention cell every day to face torture and rushed to the hospital when his condition deteriorated, only to be shipped back to detention. He told doctors about the abuse and torture; yet, in some cases his statements were not even registered in the medical reports, and evidence of physical abuse was covered up under pressure from the police.
Açıkkollu was beaten, slapped in the face, kicked in the rib cage, kneed in the back and his head banged against the wall. His medical check-up before he was put in detention showed no signs of any heart troubles; yet, he was pronounced dead due to heart failure. When he collapsed in his cell, emergency services were belatedly called and he died in detention, although official records were doctored to reflect the false fact that he died at the hospital.
Prof. Dr. Şebnem Korur Fincancı, president of the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (TİHV), emphasised in a report that Açıkkollu died of a heart attack on August 5, 2016 due to the torture he was exposed to in detention.
His family had found out about his death when they were called to the İstanbul Institute of Forensic Medicine. The ill treatment of Açıkkollu continued here as well. They were told that the funeral could be held on condition that he was buried in “a graveyard of traitors,” prepared by the Greater İstanbul Municipality for alleged “traitors,” despite the fact that he had not been tried nor even interrogated. Imams assigned by the Turkish Religious Affairs Directorate (Diyanet) refused to say a funeral prayer for Açıkkollu.
His family had to embalm the body themselves and was obliged to take him to his hometown in Ahırlı district of Konya province in their own vehicle. Here too, the imam of the local mosque would not perform the funeral prayer because of instructions from the Religious Affairs Directorate that the “funeral prayer will not be said for traitors.” So the last rites was also performed by his close relatives.
Habib Ertürk, who was alleged to be an informant accusing Açıkkollu, reportedly withdrew his statements, that he made under detention, during the trial before the court. Ertürk told the court that the accusations against Açıkkollu were fabricated by the police and he was obliged to sign these fabricated statements under pressure.
However, the prosecutor’s office had accused Açıkkollu of directing and dispatching the allegedly putschist police officers to the Bosphorus Bridge despite of the absence of any evidence. Since Açıkkolu has lost his life because of torture under detention the case against him was withdrawn.
Anyway, the people who were allegedly connected with Açıkkollu have been tried and the court has acquitted all the defendants, including the police officers, from the charge of taking part in the coup attempt on July 15, 2016. The court only sentences the related defendants in the case over their alleged links to the Gülen movement. Therefore, if Açıkkollu is still alive today, he would probable be acquitted of the groundless charge of involvement in the coup attempt.
It had previously been revealed that Açıkkollu was found innocent one-and-a-half years later and was reinstated to his job (!). Namely, the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government led by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had finally admitted to the innocence of the deceased teacher.
The reinstatement decision, numbered E.2561776, for Açıkkolu was rendered by the Turkish Education Ministry on Feb. 7, 2018. The official document for the reinstatement of Açıkkolu was delivered by the principal of the school he used to work for to Açıkkollu’s teacher wife, who had also been dismissed from her job by a government decree under the state of emergency declared in the aftermath of the coup attempt. Thus, the honour of the late Gökhan Açıkkollu was restored by saying a simple “pardon” one-and-a half years after his death (!).
In a report titled “Tortured to Death” SCF investigators on Nov. 21, 2017 exposed the case of 42-year-old history teacher Gökhan Açıkkollu, who died after enduring 13 days of torture and abuse in police detention in İstanbul.
The torture, ill-treatment, abusive, inhuman and degrading treatment of people who are deprived of their liberties in Turkey’s detention centers and prisons have become the norm rather than the exception under increased nationalistic euphoria and religious zealotry in the country in the wake of the controversial coup attempt on July 15, 2016.
The Stockholm Center for Freedom (SCF) reported in one of its studies titled “Suspicious Deaths and Suicides In Turkey” that there has been an increase in the number of suspicious deaths in Turkey, most in Turkish jails and detention centers where torture and ill-treatment are being practiced. In most cases, authorities concluded these to have been suicides without any effective, independent investigation.
