‘Dr. Şeyhmus Gökalp arrested based on an informant’s lies’

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The Turkish Medical Association (TTB) has once again condemned the imprisonment of its High Honorary Board member and former Central Council member Dr. Şeyhmus Gökalp on November 23, 2020.

In a written statement, the Association has demanded that Dr. Gökalp be released pending trial as soon as possible.

'Sense of justice undermined'

According to the statement, the objection to Gökalp's arrest "which has undermined the sense of justice" has been rejected on two grounds:

"The first is the allegation that he attended the meeting of a platform, the legality of which was not disputed by the government at the time. It has been considered strong criminal evidence even though he insistently stated that he had not attended the meeting and there has been no evidence such as images, voice records, etc. refuting this statement.

"The second is the lies of an informant who turned oneself in in 2016. This informant gave statements about several people at the time of surrender in 2016. Dr. Şeyhmus Gökalp was not mentioned in the statements given by this informant at the time of surrender.

"For an unknown reason, three years after turning oneself in, on March 26, 2019, the informant made abstract confessions about Dr. Şeyhmus Gökalp, just as s/he did about several other physicians."

'He has not been released for unlawful reasons'

The statement of the TTB has further indicated that even though there are Court of Cassation, Constitutional Court and European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) judgements concluding that such statements cannot be considered evidence, Dr. Şeyhmus Gökalp's request for release has been rejected "by considering the abstract confessions to be evidence."

The Association has also reminded the public that the World Medical Association (WMA), Standing Committee of European Doctors (CPME) and International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims (IRCT) as well as the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, which was created by the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and the International Federation for Human Right (FIDH), penned letters to the authorities in Turkey including the President.

"However, the unlawful and unjust arrest is still ongoing with all these calls being disregarded," the TTB has protested.

Concluding the statement, the Association has said, "Our High Honorary Board member Dr. Şeyhmus Gökalp is innocent, we stand with him in his righteous struggle. We demand that his unjust and unlawful arrest be ended as soon as possible and his release pending trial be ensured." (EMK/SD)