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UK: Kurds get £150,000 for police assault

01 May 1996

Two Kurdish political refugees, who fled Turkey to avoid police violence and harassment, have won more than £150,000 damages from the Metropolitan police for assault and malicious prosecution. The two men, Haci Bozkurt and Baki Ates, from north London, were arrested by officers from the Stoke Newington police station outside a community centre after a protest ended with the police making arrests. Mr Bozkurt had intervened to remonstrate with a policeman who made a particularly brutal arrest of a young man. Bozkurt was kicked and punched and dragged into a police van; Mr Ates found himself similarly treated when he raised objections about the incident. The men were further assaulted inside the police vehicle. Bozkurt received a fractured nose while Ates was found to have a lacerated eyebrow and severe bruising. They were later charged with violent disorder, but the charges were thrown out of court in May 1991. Their counsel, Ben Emmerson, remarked: "This country should have been a safe haven, but they were arbitrarily arrested, beaten and injured and then prosecuted on trumped-up charges". Predictably, no disciplinary action has been taken against any of the officers involved and they remain on duty. Guardian 14.6.96.