Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 10th of August 2022

Case name: 2022_08_10-EasternMed962

Situation: 1 injured man in Evros region, severely beaten by Greek police and violently pushed-back to Turkey

Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded

Place of Incident: Eastern Med

Summary of the Case:

In the morning of the 10th of August 2022, Alarm Phone received a call by a worried relative, alerting us to one man with an injured knee, needing medical attention. We called the person in distress who explained that he had a hard night because he had been travelling, but with his injury he could not continue with the group and stayed under a tree besides a dusty mountain road. He told us that he was very scared of the police and a push-back, and that he found a lawyer who could help him. We alerted the Greek authorities at 11:22 CEST, asking for medical attention and the right for him to apply for asylum for this man on Greek soil.

He told us that his lawyer had also given his co-ordinates to the Greek Police and demanded for his right to asylum also. She told him to wait there for the police to come and rescue him and bring him to a camp. Since 13:30 CEST we lost contact with the person in distress and didn’t hear from him again until 4 days later, when he contacted us to explain the traumatic experience he went through and gave the following testimony of the horrible and violent push-back at the hands of the Greek police and border guards.

Testimony:

At first I’m sorry I can’t speak much as I feel still  pain in my knee.

We reached the Greek border at night and crossed the river with a rubber boat. The Greek army did not notice us. We walked 5 km in the mountains at night, then we hide all day and walked again at night for another 5 km. On the third day, I fell on my leg exactly on my right knee. First, the pain wasn’t too intense. On the same day we met another group of 7 people, which we did not know. Their phone was broken and they did not have a map. They asked to walk with us because we had a phone – we agreed and we became 14 people. At night we made 10 km. Walking exacerbated and increased the pain I felt on my knee. It really was a lot of pain and it became so strong. The next night we walked 14 km. The pain was very severe, I took painkillers, and the next night we walked another 19 km. This day was so exhausting because the mountain road was tough it was a hard rough journey. I completed the path being carried by my friends. I knew this was the end of my trip. The fifth night I tried to walk but I could not walk even one step. Then there was a disagreement in the group, but finally they agreed that they let me to rest for an extra day – then I could continue walking, possibly with another group. They left me extra food and water.

During the day, I called my cousin. He gave me the number of a lawyer. I contacted her and I gave her the coordinates of my location and I told her about my knee injury. The lawyer went to the police station in Alexandropulis. She informed me that the police would come to bring me to the police station and then to the hospital, so that I could be registered in the camp according to my health status. And she said to go close to the main road and when you see the police turn yourself in without any problems.

At seven o’clock, close to the highway, a masked/hooded person in green military uniform with the “Border Police” written on it came to me. He took the phone while I was talking to my wife. He broke it and he asked me which knee is injured, I said the right one. He beat me all over my body, especially on the injured knee. He asked me to take out what was in my pockets. I had Euros and Turkish money. He took it all, he robbed me. He checked my bag and didn’t find anything of value but he didn’t let me take anything. He was repeatedly hitting me on my knees with a stick and on my back in a brutal manner. On the main road there was a police car and there was another person in the car, masked and wearing the same outfit. He opened the trunk of the car and put me inside it. It was very tight and I could not breathe. They took me to another area. It was like a forest road, a country road. They asked me to come down and there were two policemen in normal black police uniforms. They were just looking. Here began a torture party of half an hour of severe caning all over my body with a lot of racist talk and sexual humiliations like “I want to kill you” or “I want to fuck you”.

Then a car exchange happened. The police took their car and I was taken in a closed military vehicle. We drove a bit and then they set up a checkpoint by the two masked people. The border police was searching cars. They arrested 3 Afghans, one of whom could not walk, and a Syrian who was in critical health situation. I think he was poisoned by the swamp water.

Another small military vehicle arrived without any ventilation holes, containing at least 30 people in a very small space. We were dying from the heat and the smells. We arrived at a prison close to the border. I don’t know the place, but among the Syrians it is known as “Abu Riha prison”, which has a bad and frightening reputation. It is a dirty prison. They asked us to take off all our clothes and made us all naked and piled all our clothes in only one pile. There were children and women in the other room watching us. Then they gave us 30 seconds to get dressed and people started taking other people’s clothes. Then they put us in a very small military truck. We were at least 70 people in a very small place maximum 2/3 meters

There were a lot of other cases of fainting and nausea.

Half an hour later we reached the Turkish border. We got on the rubber boat and then they left us on the other side. There was a small river after the big one. There was a lot of pain in my leg and there were many other injured persons and suddenly the people of a neighbouring village came with cars. They were driving people for a fee. I took the car in the direction of Istanbul. I went directly to the emergency hospital. Now I take painkillers and use crutches, I have a torn ligaments and pressure on the artery. I also have fluid in the knee.

I stayed for week not bale to sleep, and now doctors told me that at least I need 6 months of rest and I can’t work. In the end, I called the Greek lawyer and she was angry with me because she waited for me at the police station and because the police told her that I was not at the site and I ran away. I told her that I did not change my position coordinates and did not run away and told her the story and  she was shocked. Also, hooded /masked soldier asked me directly about any injured knee means that he knows that my knee is injured.

We published this testimony together with two similar cases in the following report: https://alarmphone.org/en/2022/09/07/a-dilemma-between-unbelievable-violence-and-death/?post_type_release_type=pos

Twitter/news link: https://alarmphone.org/en/2022/09/07/a-dilemma-between-unbelievable-violence-and-death/?post_type_release_type=pos