lawsuit filed against a visually disabled Kurdish man for ‘reading terror books’

The Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office in Batman filed a lawsuit against Hasan Yalçın, who is visually impaired, with the allegation of “aiding a terrorist organization” and “making propaganda for a terrorist organization”, taking into account the statements of a 14-year-old child who said that he constantly reads books and newspapers of terrorist organizations.

According to the news of the Mezopotamya Agency, the 14-year-old daughter of Hasan Yalçın, had to sign a statement under threats from the police at the Kozluk Police Department, where she was taken in August 2020. Yalçın, who was detained in a raid on his house as a result of his daughter’s statement, was kept in the police station for 4 days. Yalçın, who was taken to court after his procedures at the police station, was given house arrest.

While the indictment against Yalçın, for which a prison sentence was sought for “aiding a terrorist organization” and “making propaganda for a terrorist organization”, was accepted by the court, the first hearing has been adjourned to the 30th of March.

Hasan Yalcin said the following words in an interview he gave to the Mezopotamya Agency in January 2021: “When I was in custody for four days, no one gave even a drop of water to my children. My wife is mentally disabled and she has a lung disease. Also, one of my children is very sick. When I was detained, they asked me to sign the police report. I gave fingerprints instead of signing the report due to my visual impairment. There were many other names written in the report, but I didn’t know about them since I was not able to read them. Many people were detained because the minute I signed, but I didn’t even know who they were. I am visually impaired, I take care of 5 children, my partner is mentally disabled, and we live hand-to-mouth, so how can I help and abet organizations.”