A Turkish court in western Manisa on Wednesday sentenced 10 police officers to between five and 11 years in jail for torturing a group of youngsters in 1995, a lawyer for the victims told AFP.
The ruling ended a five-year legal saga that had triggered domestic and international criticism after the youngsters, taken into custody on suspicion of belonging to an extreme-left group, testified to being tortured at the hands of the police.
Each officer received a minimum 10 months' jail term for each person abused after the youths, at the time aged between 14 and 26, said they were given electric shocks, sprayed with pressurized water, sexually abused, beaten and threatened, Pelin Erda said by telephone.
As a result, one policeman was given a total 130 months in jail, another officer 120, five were given 110 months each, while the remaining received 100, 70 and 60 months in jail.
Under the Turkish penal code, the maximum term is five years in jail for each case of torture, Erda said.
The court first acquitted the policemen in 1998 citing inadequate evidence, but the appeals court overturned the decision.
The court insisted on acquitting the suspects in its second ruling in 1999, which was again rejected by the higher court, opening the door for Wednesday's sentences -- ANKARA (AFP)
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