Erkmen’s brother: “The state executed my brother”

Vedat Çem Erkmen was being held in Tekirdağ No. 2 F Type Prison. He died under suspicious circumstances on 19 December.

Erkmen’s body was brought to Istanbul Küçükçekmece Cemeteries Directorate in the morning, but was abducted by the police and not handed over to his family.

According to the information received, Erkmen’s body was taken to the Mehmetçik Foundation, located between Istanbul and Gebze.

The prisoner’s brother, Saim Erkmen, said that they were called by the prison administration at around 9 pm on Sunday and said that he had committed suicide.

Expressing that he does not believe in the suicide claim, Saim Erkmen said: “My brother was not someone who would commit suicide. The state killed him. To cover it up, they took him to the Forensic Medicine Institute (ATK) without telling anything to us or to his lawyers.”

Erkmen protested the fact that lawyers were not allowed in the autopsy procedures and said: “They executed my brother. That’s why the autopsy was done in secret from us.”