ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The family of a teenager who died inside a police station in Sulaimani on Saturday claim that their son was violently beaten to death by several policemen, despite the police continuously denying the allegations.
Sahand Ahmad, 17, was arrested alongside one of his friends by Sulaimani’s Sarchinar police on Friday, accused of having shot and wounded a man in October. He died inside the police station on Saturday under suspicious circumstances following a reported failed attempt at fleeing from the police forces.
Sulaimani’s police claim that the young man “slipped” on a wall and hurt himself when he was trying to escape, and died inside a chamber after being arrested and taken back to the station by the policemen.
Sahand’s family have vehemently rejected the claims made by the police, saying that eyewitnesses have confirmed to them that the boy was violently beaten by the policemen who were trying to catch him.
“This kid did not slip. Five policemen followed this kid, when he supposedly tried to run away from the police… They caught him 300 to 400 meters away from the station. Today, we went to that place where his blood has been shed and the blood has been recorded. This kid was beaten by five policemen. They put their feet on his neck and stomped his belly… Then they have cuffed him and dragged him across the floor to the station,” Omar Ali, Sahand’s uncle, told Rudaw’s Shahyan Tahseen on Sunday, citing accounts of nearby witnesses.
Ali believed that his nephew had died due to the beating he was subjected to when he was taken back to the station.
The uncle claimed that all nearby security footages have been erased, and that the police claim the cameras in the police station were out of order.
“We, at Sulaimani’s police, are very saddened by this incident," said Sarkawt Ahmad, spokesperson for Sulaimani’s police, adding that “everyone is presumed innocent until proven guilty.”
The spokesperson claimed that if the young man had been beaten, it must have been the individual will of the policemen, as such a treatment is against the regulations of the police directorate. He added that all the five policemen in question have been detained by Sulaimani’s police.
Sahand’s body was sent to a forensics lab, but the results are yet to be delivered, according to Ahmad.
Based on the request of Deputy Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Region Qubad Talabani, the Sulaimani police directorate has formed a specialized investigative team and launched a probe into the incident.
Sahand Ahmad, 17, was arrested alongside one of his friends by Sulaimani’s Sarchinar police on Friday, accused of having shot and wounded a man in October. He died inside the police station on Saturday under suspicious circumstances following a reported failed attempt at fleeing from the police forces.
Sulaimani’s police claim that the young man “slipped” on a wall and hurt himself when he was trying to escape, and died inside a chamber after being arrested and taken back to the station by the policemen.
Sahand’s family have vehemently rejected the claims made by the police, saying that eyewitnesses have confirmed to them that the boy was violently beaten by the policemen who were trying to catch him.
“This kid did not slip. Five policemen followed this kid, when he supposedly tried to run away from the police… They caught him 300 to 400 meters away from the station. Today, we went to that place where his blood has been shed and the blood has been recorded. This kid was beaten by five policemen. They put their feet on his neck and stomped his belly… Then they have cuffed him and dragged him across the floor to the station,” Omar Ali, Sahand’s uncle, told Rudaw’s Shahyan Tahseen on Sunday, citing accounts of nearby witnesses.
Ali believed that his nephew had died due to the beating he was subjected to when he was taken back to the station.
The uncle claimed that all nearby security footages have been erased, and that the police claim the cameras in the police station were out of order.
“We, at Sulaimani’s police, are very saddened by this incident," said Sarkawt Ahmad, spokesperson for Sulaimani’s police, adding that “everyone is presumed innocent until proven guilty.”
The spokesperson claimed that if the young man had been beaten, it must have been the individual will of the policemen, as such a treatment is against the regulations of the police directorate. He added that all the five policemen in question have been detained by Sulaimani’s police.
Sahand’s body was sent to a forensics lab, but the results are yet to be delivered, according to Ahmad.
Based on the request of Deputy Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Region Qubad Talabani, the Sulaimani police directorate has formed a specialized investigative team and launched a probe into the incident.
Comments
Rudaw moderates all comments submitted on our website. We welcome comments which are relevant to the article and encourage further discussion about the issues that matter to you. We also welcome constructive criticism about Rudaw.
To be approved for publication, however, your comments must meet our community guidelines.
We will not tolerate the following: profanity, threats, personal attacks, vulgarity, abuse (such as sexism, racism, homophobia or xenophobia), or commercial or personal promotion.
Comments that do not meet our guidelines will be rejected. Comments are not edited – they are either approved or rejected.
Post a comment