Veli Saçılık, a former political prisoner and public servant who was sacked by government decree in the aftermath of a July 15 coup attempt in Turkey, was detained by police after he attempted to protest his dismissal under post-coup emergency rule in Ankara.
Newly emerged video footage shows the moment a police officer discharged a can of pepper spray on Saçılık and his friends. Seconds later, he falls on his shoulder and reporedly had his shoulder broken.
In another video taken minutes after the incident, Saçılık and his wife are seen being taken to a police station for interrogation. Saçılık coughs heavily due to the pepper spray he was exposed to.
Former political prisoner Saçılık is best remembered for having the lower part of his arm torn off by a backhoe that the Turkish government used to demolish walls during a crackdown on hunger strikers in Turkish prisons on July 5, 2000.
The arm was thrown in a dustbin and was later found in the mouth of a street dog. The European Court of Human Rights heard the case of Saçılık and others and ordered that Turkey pay the victims TL 46,000 in compensation.
Saçılık was dismissed from his job by a government decree issued in the aftermath of the coup attempt on July 15, 2016. More than 130,000 people have lost their jobs over alleged ties to the Gülen movement. (turkeypurge.com) July 5, 2017
