Lawyer Orhan Alphan was beaten by police officers in the Êlih (tr. Batman) courthouse while intervening against police violence against a detainee. The incident happened on Thursday, Alphan suffered a laceration and filed a criminal complaint against the police officer involved.
The Bar Association in Êlih protested the incident. Lawyers gathered in the courthouse and showed solidarity with their colleague. Bar Association President Erkan Şenses called for the violent police officer to be arrested and stated: “When a lawyer is treated like this in the courthouse, one cannot imagine what is done to suspects in police custody.”
Regarding the incident, Şenses explained that a prisoner tried to escape from the courthouse and was beaten by a police officer after he was caught. When lawyers protested, the situation escalated and colleague Orhan Alphan was injured. There are camera recordings and testimonies of witnesses to the incident. For the bar association, the question arises as to how it can be that a police officer in the courthouse acts against a lawyer with such brutality. “In a constitutional state, nobody should have the freedom to commit violent crimes. We demand the necessary consequences for the police officer. Attacks on lawyers are attacks on the right of defense. We strongly condemn this attack,” said the President of the Bar Association.
Our colleague Atty., who was attacked in Batman Courthouse. In the Orhan ALPHAN file, the prosecution did not even demand detention for the aggressor police after keeping our colleagues waiting for 7 hours.
In order to protest the incident, the decision was protested at 00.00 in the courthouse. pic.twitter.com/lAwe1xCHl4
— Batman Bar Association Lawyer Rights Center (@LawyerBar Association) April 14, 2022
–
–
–
