Turkish prosecutors filed charges of terrorism against Osman Şiban, a Kurdish villager who was seriously injured after allegedly being thrown from a helicopter by Turkish soldiers in September last year.
Şiban “is engaged in militia activities, transporting logistics and living materials to rural areas with the order of the (PKK) terrorist organisation,” the prosecutors said in the indictment accepted by a high criminal court in the eastern Van province, pro-Kurdish Mezopotamya agency reported on Monday.
The court referred the file to southern Mersin province, due to Şiban’s residence, it said.
Villagers Osman Şiban and Servet Turgut had been detained by Turkish soldiers heading out on an operation in the countryside in the province of Van on Sept. 11, 2020. Their families did not hear from them for two days, after which they were found at an intensive care unit of a public hospital in the province.
Eye-witnesses said Şiban and Turgut had been dropped from a helicopter. A preliminary report said their injuries were consistent with falling from a high altitude. It also mentioned soldiers saying that the men had fallen from a cliff.
Turkey’s military has been battling members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) for four decades. About 40,000 people have died in the conflict, mostly Kurds. The PKK, which is seeking autonomous rights for Turkey’s Kurdish minority, is recognised as a terrorist organisation by the United States and the European Union.
Turgut died after spending 20 days in hospital. He had two brain haemorrhages, 11 broken ribs, and several tears in his lungs. Both of his cheekbones were broken, and there were fractures on his fingers, arms, legs and feet.
Tayyip Temel, a parliamentary deputy of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), submitted a request for a parliamentary inquiry on Sept. 21 last year, saying a report of the incident supported eyewitness testimony that they had been thrown out of a helicopter. Temel asked whether an investigation had been opened and which soldiers were involved in the incident.
The Van Governorate issued a statement saying Turgut had refused to comply with soldiers’ orders and fell off a cliff as he ran. Şiban was “understood to have aided members of the separatist terrorist organisation”, it said. Both men had been “detained in an appropriate manner despite resisting arrest”, it said.
Ahval