Below is the English translation of the account of Erkan Yolalan, who was taken into police custody yesterday. Please share so the world knows what people in Turkey are going through:

I WANT TO PUT INTO WORDS WHAT I WENT THROUGH. MY ONLY GOAL IS TO LET EVERYONE KNOW WHAT PEOPLE GO THROUGH WHILE IN POLICE CUSTODY.

First of all, I want to thank everyone who's thought of me, searched for lawyers for me, and helped me in any way. I'm home now, and doing well. I want to put into words what I went through. My only goal is to let everyone know what people go through while in police custody. I want to let you know that I have no other motive. I will tell the story from the very beginning, with all the profanities and insults that were uttered. Down to the smallest detail...

I was taken into custody last night (June 3rd, 2013), around 9pm in Besiktas, by the traffic lights on Barbaros Bulvari. I wasn't swearing or throwing rocks at the police. As soon as they noticed me, they took me by my arm. Some friends let me know that they saw on TV how it happened. From there it was pure hell. As I was being dragged along the street, starting at the bus station there, every police officer and riot police who saw me along the way threw a punch at me or kicked me. For about 100-150 meters, until we reached the Kadikoy ferry, everyone was throwing a punch, a kick, or a slap across the face. There was no end to insults like "Is it YOU who's going to save this nation, you son of a whore?". I couldn't even keep track of how many people I got insulted and physically abused by until we reached the police bus. When we were by the buses, some people behind one of the vehicles yelled to us "Bring them here!". Then they took me behind the bus and beat me up some more. I found out later that they took me there to avoid the cameras.

When we entered one of the buses, the lights were off, and a girl was begging inside "I didn't do anything abi" ("abi" is a colloquialism that literally translates to "big brother", but used more like "man" in English). I couldn't see the people whom I was being punched by when entering the bus. All I could do in the dark was shield my head with my hands. The insults were continuing. I sat down and everyone who was passing by me, hit me. I got up and went to a corner. They told me to sit down. I said that when I sat down I was being punched, but they hit me more and made me sit down. They were hitting the girl, and squeezing her throat. A plain-clothes officer named Suleyman said this to the girl, word for word: "I will make you bend over and fuck you right here". Her response was heart-wrenching; all she could say with a low voice was "ok abi".

Then they made the three of us in the bus shout "I love the Turkish police. I love my country", yelling "louder" again and again. The insults and physical abuse kept on going. When it seemed like things were settling down a bit, they brought another guy into the bus. His nose was broken. When I asked him why he didn't protect his nose, he said that two officers held his arms, and a third one punched his nose three times. They kept bringing more people in. Then they brought a kid from Bahcesehir University named Mustafa. He had been attacked by 20 riot police, and could hardly stand up. While right outside the bus, they first beat him up with punches, then they hit his head with a police helmet, and then they shoved his head onto the bus window. They pushed him into the bus while still punching him. As they sat him down I noticed that he was handcuffed and his head was bleeding. I went over to him with a shirt (the bloody shirt of the kid with the broken nose), and held it up to his head to stop the bleeding. The officer named Suleyman yelled at me, and told me to fuck off. I told him he was bleeding, he said "Let him bleed". I didn't care. They were holding the guy with handcuffs while bleeding from his head. We tried to plead with a few of the officers, and finally one of them took the handcuffs off.

Another sad thing happened while we were at the police station, being questioned: Mustafa asked me what had happened on the bus, if he had been hit. He didn't remember anything. Apparently he wasn't completely conscious.

On the bus they let us use the bathroom, then gave us a bottle of water. After that they took us to the hospital and then the police station. At the station there was an army of lawyers. At that point the officers were talking to us very politely.

I want to thank the lawyers, the friends who've found the lawyers, and everyone who've thought of us and worried for us. There is not a single exaggeration in this account; everything is true, and my only goal is for everyone out there to get a first-hand account of the truth.

Resistance against violence continues. This fascist order will be undone.

Erkan Yolalan

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