TURKEY’S opposition Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) called for action from the international community today, warning of a “political lynching” after a jailed former mayor was beaten so badly she was unable to speak during a court hearing.
Dilek Hatipoglu was subjected to a forced strip-search when she was transferred from Ankara’s Sinan prison to a T-Type jail in the largely Kurdish south-eastern province of Van last week.
After she refused prison guards’ orders to undress at the entrance of the jail, she was taken out of sight of security cameras and assaulted by three guards, who beat her and tore her clothing off.