Mikael Tekin's death in Belgian prison

Belgium in spotlight for torture claims
The relatives of the Turkish man, who died in a Belgian jail, grieve during his funeral. AA photo

Friday, August 14, 2009
FULYA ÖZERKAN
ANKARA – Hürriyet Daily News
The death of a Turkish citizen in the Belgian prison puts the country under the spotlight with some saying the conditions in the jails are heart-breaking. This is a scandal, but it does target our citizens, says Turkey’s chief consul in Brussels


Two years ago when a German teenager was jailed in Turkey on charges of harassing a British girl, the country came under heavy criticism with claims of torture in prisons that evoked scenes from the controversial movie Midnight Express.

Now, however, the death of a Turkish-born prisoner in a European country has resulted in EU-aspirant Turkey sending Belgium a diplomatic note of protest.
“This is a scandal,” Turkey’s chief consul in Brussels Mehmet Poroy told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review on Friday. He said the situation in Belgian prisons, often addressed in international human rights reports, was heart breaking.
“But this is not racism, nor does it target our citizens. This is the situation of the Belgian prisons,” said Poroy.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry has demanded that Belgian authorities investigate the death of 31-year-old Mikail Tekin at Jamioulx Prison near Charleroi in southern Belgium. Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu called his Belgian counterpart, Yves Leterme, on Thursday, to suggest the probe be carried out shortly and in a way that satisfies all parties concerned, according to diplomatic sources.

Earlier, the head of Turkish Parliament’s Human Rights Commission, Zafer Üskül, wrote a letter to the Belgian parliament asking for details regarding the circumstances surrounding Tekin’s death.

“We have requested information from Belgian authorities through both our embassy and the consulate in Brussels,” said Poroy.
A prosecutor said Wednesday that the death was caused at the hands of prison guards. “An autopsy showed that the death was a result of the intervention of prison staff,” Charleroi public prosecutor Christian De Valkeneer was quoted as saying in Belgian media.

“I recently met with the lawyers. There is an ongoing investigation,” said Poroy, adding that the investigation was expected to take a few months and would show if whatever force used was proportional or not.
Prison officials had at first denied that the death was linked to the guards’ actions but his relatives said Tekin’s body showed signs of having been beaten.

Poroy said there were around 90 Turkish citizens in Belgian prisons, excluding the number of those with dual citizenship.
A Turkish citizen also died in a Belgian prison in 2001 from a drug overdose, the diplomat said, adding it was not clear if the death was a result of torture but that it had been recorded as suspicious. In 2003, another foreign citizen jailed in a Belgian prison was beaten to death, he said.

Tekin’s body was flown to Turkey last week for burial in his hometown of Sivas in Central Anatolia.
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=belgium-under-spotlight-for-torture-claims-2009-08-14