Item 3 - Appendix 3: Transcript of interview with Sait Avşar by members of the Human Rights Committee of the Bar of England & Wales (28/4/1994)

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Transcript of an interview conducted by Timothy Otty and David Marshall of the Human Rights Committee of the Bar of England & Wales with Sait Avşar, brother of Mehmet Şerif Avşar and Behçet Avşar, at the Human Rights Association office in Diyarbakır. Sait was with Şerif at the family fertiliser business on 22 April 1994 when 5 men claiming to be gendarmes came to their premises to obtain a statement from Şerif regarding another brother, Abdulkerim, who had been remanded in custody in Diyarbakır prison. Şerif refused, stating he would give the statement to a uniformed officer if needed. In the ensuing argument, it became clear the 5 men were village guards, not gendarmes. Şerif was taken away from the premises at gunpoint. Sait and other family members followed the car and taxi which took the guards and Şerif to the Saraykapı gendarme station, where the Gendarmerie denied their brother's presence. They returned to their shop to call the police and report a kidnapping, to which the police replied that Mehmet Şerif was at the gendarme station. When the family stated that the Gendarmerie had just denied that he was there, the police hung up. At 4:30 pm on the same day, the family received a phone call at the house stating that 'We have dealt with your brother, we have killed him and you are all in the queue'. Sait concludes 'We have since heard nothing about our brother and have effectively given up hope of finding him alive.'

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