Diyarbakır Bar files complaint against journalists over torture remarks

ISTANBUL

The Diyarbakır Bar Association has filed a criminal complaint against pro-government journalists Cem Küçük and Fuat Uğur after the former suggested torture tactics that could be used against suspects tried in connection to Turkey’s July 2016 coup attempt.

Speaking during a show titled “Medya Kritik” on private broadcaster TGRT, Küçük cited various torture methods to make suspects of the Gülen network, believed to be behind the coup attempt, confess.

“You could hang them out of the window from their feet to make those who conducted the Dec. 17-25 [2013 corruption probes] operation speak. There is also the towel method: Throwing a towel into the suspects face and then pouring water down their mouth to drown them. You can try lots of things,” Küçük said during the program, which was broadcast on Dec. 20, 2016 but has only recently drawn attention.

The Diyarbakır Bar filed a complaint against Küçük and Uğur to the Diyarbakır Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office on Dec. 14 on charges of “inciting crime” and “praising crime.”

It also stated that the subjects of the complaint could be handed prison terms from six months to five years, which could increase further as the crime was committed through the media.