Serkan Demirel, a journalist living in Switzerland, was detained at the German border on the evening of August 1 and subjected to arbitrary and unlawful practices.
Demirel, who was detained while traveling on a bus from the Netherlands to Germany at around 7 p.m., recounted his experiences to ANF.
Demirel stated that after the detention, he was taken to a police station near Aachen, where German-speaking police officers verbally informed him that he was banned from entering Germany, but did not show him any official document confirming this ban.
“No notification was made to me. My wife is a German citizen, and I frequently travel to and from Germany. Despite this fact, I was placed in a cell. The reason was simply cited as journalistic activity,” he said.
Demirel noted that he was not allowed to see a lawyer during his detention and no interpreter was provided: “Most of the police officers spoke Turkish. They threatened me, saying, ‘We will send you either to Turkey or Switzerland.’”
The journalist was not allowed to contact his family either, and the police blackmailed him by demanding photos and fingerprints in exchange for allowing him to see his family members.
During his detention, Demirel was asked to sign a document stating that he had been informed of his rights, including the right to a lawyer and to notify the consulate, but he refused to sign it. The police then demanded money from him in exchange for sending him to Switzerland.
“They seized my wallet and took the money in it. They made me sign a piece of paper; it was a general document stating that I had the right to get the money back, but it did not specify the amount. None of these transactions were invoiced or transparent.”
Demirel said that at around 5 a.m. on August 2, he was taken by the police from Freiburg to the Swiss border, where he was forced to walk with a gun pointed at him.
The journalist said the police claimed that German authorities considered him a “threat,” but no official documents were presented.
“After hours in custody, they took me from a police station near Aachen to Baden-Baden, and then to Freiburg. Some of the police officers there spoke Turkish and insulted me and behaved in a humiliating manner. At the police station in Aachen, 900 euros were taken for the deportation process, but no receipt or detailed documents were provided,” said Demirel, describing the treatment as “illegal and piratical.”
The journalist’s personal belongings, his phone, his computer, and his bank cards were used without permission.
Serkan Demirel, who has been living in Switzerland as a political refugee since 2012 and is currently in the process of obtaining citizenship, emphasized that what he experienced was a serious violation of human rights and said, “I will file a criminal complaint so that all the police officers involved are identified and brought to justice.”
There are many Turkish police officers within the German police force. They are known for their provocative actions against Kurds. They report all Kurdish activities to the Turkish state and provoke the democratic actions carried out by Kurds.