Police detain 12 in demo for slain Gezi protester during minister's Eskişehir visit

ESKİŞEHİR - Doğan News Agency

The group of demonstrators was mostly comprised by students. DHA photo

Police in Eskişehir detained 12 demonstrators who had gathered to protest Youth and Sports Minister Suat Kılıç, who was visiting to participate in the groundbreaking ceremony for the city's brand new stadium on Aug. 23.

The group, mostly comprising students, started a sit-in to call for the arrest of Ali İsmail Korkmaz's assailants. Korkmaz is a Gezi protester who was killed after being beaten by plainclothes men during a demonstration in the city.

During the one-hour sit-in, the group of demonstrators told riot police officers that they intended to march to the Governor's Office at the time when Kılıç was holding a meeting, in order to issue a public statement.

Police refused the request and took the demonstrators who tried to pass through the cordon into custody.

Eskişehir Governor Azim Tuna had stirred outrage after suggesting that Korkmaz could have been beaten by his own friends, after footage emerged last month showing the assailants in civilian clothes beating the 19-year-old protester with sticks.

However, the latest confession this week of one of the assailants seemed to confirm the strong suspicions that the plainclothes men could have been related to police officers.

The suspect, Ebubekir Harlar, accused a police officer telling a group of civilians, including himself, to catch protesters so they could "beat them with sticks."

Under fire over the case, the Interior Ministry rejected claims of "obfuscating the evidence" in a statement released on Aug. 23, adding that the investigation was being carried out "meticulously."

Eight people, including four public employees, were detained on Aug. 7 for the beating of Korkmaz. Four of the suspects were later released.