Prof. Dr. Şebnem Korur Fincancı, President of the Turkish Medical Association (TTB), who was detained after being targeted by President Erdoğan and his partner MHP leader Bahçeli, arrested.
Turkish Medical Association (TTB) President Prof. Dr. Şebnem Korur Fincancı, who was detained after being targeted by President Tayyip Erdoğan and his partner MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli, arrested.
Detained on 26 October, Turkish Medical Association (TTB) Central Council President Şebnem Korur Fincancı was taken to the courthouse in the morning.
After 4 hours of statement procedures at the prosecutor's office, Fincancı was sent to the Criminal Judicature of Peace with the demand of arrest on the charge of "making propaganda for an illegal organisation". Fincancı's interrogation with the judge ended.
After a 15-minute break, the judge issued an arrest warrant for Fincancı on the charge of "making propaganda for an illegal organisation". Fincancı was taken to Sincan Women's Closed Prison.
On the other hand, the police intervened the members of TDB, SES, KESK and TTB who came to support Fincancı and took them away from the courthouse. During the intervention 5 people were detained.
The lawyers of Fincancı stated that although they applied to the prosecutor's office with a petition to make a statement when an investigation was opened, they did not receive a response and said, "While we were waiting for her to be called to testify, she was taken into custody with a raid on her house."
In 1996, on behalf of the United Nations International War Crimes Tribunal, Fincancı participated in the autopsy of bodies exhumed from mass graves in the Kalesija region of Bosnia. In 1999, she was one of the drafters of the Istanbul Protocol, adopted by the United Nations as the international standard guideline for the detection of torture; subsequently, she gave trainings in various countries on its implementation. In 2000, she took part in the international work of Physicians for Human Rights in South Africa, and in 2002, she took part in the World Health Organisation's (WHO) Sexual Violence against Women Survey and Handbook.
In Bahrain, where she went on behalf of the International Torture Rehabilitation Centre (IRTC), she posed as a tourist and took tissue samples from the body of a young man whose body was found in the sea and who, according to the police, had drowned. She brought the samples back to Turkey and, after an autopsy, determined that the young man had been tortured to death in custody, as her family claimed.
The Central Council of the Turkish Medical Association (TTB) has reacted to the detention of Şebnem Korur Fincancı despite her lawyers saying that she could come to the statement by stating that "Neither this detention nor the investigation has any legal grounds, since nothing that our professor has expressed is an element of crime". Pointing out that the detention decision is the last stage of the pressure that the ruling circles have been trying to increase against TTB and it's executives for a long time and that it is used as a pretext, the statement reads as follows: "We will continue our struggle to protect democracy, peace, the independence of science, the freedom of expression of scientists and public health closely related to these by protecting Dr Şebnem Korur Fincancı and TTB against the practices of the government. Dr. Şebnem Korur Fincancı is not alone, she is our honour!"
On the other hand, the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office submitted a request to the Ankara Civil Court of Peace to remove Fincancı from her position as the president of the TMA. In the statement made by the Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, it was stated as follows: "A request has been made to the Civil Court of First Instance on duty to decide on the termination of the duties of the responsible bodies of the Turkish Medical Association in the headquarters and medical chambers and to elect a new central council chairman instead of electing new ones."
AKP MKYK Member and former MP Şamil Tayyar said on his social media account that "trustees may be appointed to TTB". Tayyar wrote: "TTB President Şebnem Korur Fincancı was detained for making terrorist organisation propaganda. The prosecutor's office also demanded Fincancı's dismissal. If the request is deemed appropriate, a 'trustee' may be appointed to the TTB Presidency."
SHE WAS TARGETED
Fincancı had said that the allegations of the use of chemical weapons in military operations in the Federal Kurdistan Region should be investigated. Following these statements, she was targeted by AKP President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his partner MHP Chairman Devlet Bahçeli. Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office initiated an investigation against Fincancı.
All over the country, labour and democracy forces, labour and professional organisations and medical chambers made statements and reacted to the detention of TTB President Prof. Dr. Şebnem Korur Fincancı. In Istanbul, the police intervened the women who wanted to gather in front of Kadıköy Süreyya Opera House with the call of Women Strong Together to protest Fincancı's detention. Many women were beaten and detained.
Half an hour later, the police also intervened the protest organised by the Forces of Labour and Democracy in Istanbul for Fincancı in Kadıköy, the police prevented them from making a statement and detained many people.
Here, Eylem Nazlıer, reporter of our newspaper, was subjected to violence by a female police officer even though she stated that she was a journalist. Nazlıer's throat was squeezed and her phone and press card were confiscated, but she was released with her phone and press card. Other press labourers were also subjected to police violence. Protests against Fincancı's detention were also organised in İzmir, Adana, Diyarbakır, Mardin, Artvin, Urfa, Aydın, Van and Mersin. (EVRENSEL DAILY)
Aydin Çubukçu
Yücel Özdemir
M. Sinan Birdal