Authorities perform autopsy on prisoner Vedat Çem Erkmen without waiting for family and lawyers

Vedat Çem Erkmen was held in Tekirdağ No. 2 F Type Prison and was serving a sentence of aggravated life imprisonment. He died under suspicious circumstances on Sunday. The prison administration, which called Erkmen’s family at around 9 pm on Sunday, claimed that Erkmen committed suicide in his cell.

Erkmen’s family and lawyers from the Human Rights Association (İHD) and the Lawyers’ Association for Freedom (ÖHD) went to Tekirdağ Prison. However, it was learned that the autopsy procedures on Erkmen were carried out before his family and lawyers arrived.

‘Vedat was killed!’

Gürkan Isteli, a member of the Prisons Commission of the ÖHD Istanbul Branch, published a statement on social media saying: “What are they hiding from whom? We went back and forth between the prison, the courthouse and the hospital for hours. The prison rejected all our requests to see the body. Hours later, we were able to reach the on-duty prosecutor’s office, and we have just identified and received the body.”

Isteli said: “Our client, Vedat Erkmen was moved from his cell to an isolation cell a few days ago. As a reason for the move, they said that ‘he was not safe’. We say that he was openly murdered. Why should Vedat, who was moved from his cell to guarantee his “life safety”, have committed suicide?

Isteli added that in the phone call Erkmen made to his brother last Friday (17 December), he told him that at the next visit, on 23 January, he wanted the family to file a criminal complaint against the prison administration.

Funeral vehicle not given

Isteli said that the coffin and funeral vehicle were not given. Upon the reaction of the family, who asked for a blanket to at least wrap the body in it, the coffin was given.

Since the funeral vehicle was not provided, Erkmen’s body was brought to the Küçükçekmece Cemeteries Directorate with the vehicle provided by the family. Erkmen’s body will be taken to the Digor Dağpınar Association in Esenyurt. The body will then be sent to Kars, his hometown.