Four Turkish university students who were held in pretrial detention for nearly three months for participating in a protest against a Syrian government offensive in a Kurdish-controlled region of northern Syria have alleged that they were beaten and held in degrading conditions in jail, according to statements shared through their lawyers.
According to the Media and Law Studies Association (MLSA), one of the students, Doğukan Mağol, said in a letter that detainees were assaulted by prison guards and held in overcrowded conditions under constant camera surveillance. He alleged that guards entered their ward after inmates attempted to cover up a camera and that he was beaten, dragged and put in a cold cell without adequate clothing.
Mağol said he began a hunger strike on March 6 over the alleged treatment and ended it on March 27.
Lawyers for the students said they had filed a criminal complaint against prison officials over the alleged abuse. Serhat Eren, a lawmaker from the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party), raised the allegations in Turkey’s parliament and submitted questions to the Justice Ministry in early March.
The four students were detained during a January 9 protest at Istanbul University’s Beyazıt campus and arrested the following day. They remained in pretrial detention until their first hearing on March 30.
The protest was linked to clashes in northern Syria, where Syrian government forces launched an offensive in Kurdish-majority neighborhoods of Aleppo, including Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh, with shelling reported in civilian areas. Demonstrators said the violence had harmed Kurdish civilians.
The students were among dozens detained during the protest, with six later referred to court on charges including unlawful assembly, refusing to disperse and public incitement to commit a crime. Turkish media reported that around 50 people were released after initial questioning.
At the March 30 hearing, a court ordered the release of four of the students — Emir Sağlam, Mağol, Hamit Akay and Yunus Emre Öksüz — while removing judicial supervision measures on the remaining two defendants, Barış Süleymanoğlu and Berzan Bağatarhan. The case was adjourned until July 3.
In court, the students denied the charges, saying they had gathered to make a press statement and had not resisted police. Some said they were detained without being ordered to disperse, a claim that could not be independently verified.
Turkey’s Law No. 2911 permits public demonstrations if they are unarmed and peaceful but allows penalties for participation in gatherings deemed unlawful or for refusing to disperse after an official warning.
