Many women still remain in detention after early morning house raids on Monday 5th April in Diyarbakir.
The lawyer Özüm Vurgun shared information regarding the conditions of the 22 women, who remain under police custody for the last three days in Turkey’s southeastern province of Diyarbakır.
Police raided the Rosa Women’s Association, a women’s organisation based in Diyarbakır (Amed) campaigning against violence against women and the homes of many women activists in the early hours of Monday morning.
Police detained 22 women activists including the Jin News reporter Beritan Canözer during home raids in Diyarbakır
The lawyer of the women in custody and a member of the Lawyers Association for Freedom (OHD) Özüm Vurgun, said that due to a ‘confidentiality order’, no information for the reasons of the detention of the 22 women have been given by the authorities.
Vurgun stated that there was an arrest warrant for 33 women in total.
Vurgun also gave some details about the mistreatment the women have been subjected to during their three days long detention.
A police chief threatened the women in detention
“When one woman had a health issue, the women demanded the police open the doors of her cell. As the police ignored their rightful demand, the women protested. Then the police started to threaten them. Our clients have been mistreated,” Vurgun said.
“A police chief threatened our clients, telling them, ‘I will teach you how to be humans’. We will begin a legal procedure against this abuse targeting the women detained,” the lawyer said.
The woman who has been suffering from a health problem was not allowed to see a doctor either, according to Mesopotamia Agency.
“We have applied to the prosecutor’s office on duty, yet no legal investigation has been launched as we requested,” Vurgun said.
There is still no information about how long the women will be kept in detention.