İstanbul prosecutors have launched an investigation into the death of Vahdet Akın, an inmate who was found dead in prison under suspicious circumstances, the Bold Medya news website reported on Monday.
Akın’s family members said he had several bruises and wounds on his face the last time they had seen him in prison.
“When I asked how it happened, he pointed at the people in the room and said they had beaten him up,” said İpek Aktaşoğlu, Akın’s older sister.
Aktaşoğlu said she saw other bruises when she was at the morgue to view Akın’s body.
Akın was sought for alleged drug trafficking, and he turned himself in a month ago, the report said.
The cause of his death was recorded as cerebral hemorrhage. Prosecutors are awaiting an autopsy report from the Council of Forensic Medicine (ATK). Family members said they expect a review of CCTV footage from the prison as well as the interrogation of suspects in Akın’s ward.
According to a report by the Human Rights Association (İHD), at least 78 prisoners in Turkey died behind bars in 2022, 25 of which occurred under suspicious circumstances.
Human rights groups also report hundreds of alleged incidents of torture in the country’s prisons as well as a lack of effective investigation in most of the cases.
