ISTANBUL
The death of a man imprisoned for trying to pull down a Turkish national flag should be investigated, Turkish human rights activists said on Monday.
Ali Uckun, 28, was found hanging in a cell at Istanbul's Metris prison on July 9, ten days after he had been arrested while trying to pull down a flag at a police station.
Uckun was charged with "propagandizing a terrorist organization," "committing crime on behalf of a terrorist organization" and "publicly humiliating the Turkish national flag."
"We do not condone the incident [of June 28]. However, Uckun was diagnosed with schizophrenia (80%) and should have been hospitalized for treatment instead of being put in jail," Turkey-based Human Rights Association's chairman Abdulbaki Boga told reporters on Monday, before filing a criminal complaint with the Chief Prosecutor.
"The issue of an arrest order for a schizophrenic, instead of hospitalization, constitutes a crime on the part of the prosecutor and judge, who have succumbed to rage," the letter states, adding that Uckun's death appears to be suspicious and the incident hints the signs of murder as a result of neglect on the part of prison guards.
The group called on all perpetrators to be tried for "premeditated murder, criminal abuse of duty, and torture."
Initial police reports stated Uckun had committed suicide by hanging himself, and the corpse was transferred to the Forensic Medicine Institute for further examination and an autopsy.
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