Turkey : Five Belgian nationals of Maghrebi origins file a complaint after being imprisoned on suspicion of terrorism

Five Belgian nationals originally from the Maghreb region have filed a complaint against X. They have joined as a civil party to the investigation for being treated in an inhuman and degrading way. An action that follows their imprisonment in Turkey for almost a week, in September, while they were on a holiday in the seaside resort of Bodrum, according to the RTBF.

The complaint was lodged in Brussels following their holidays that ended sadly «on suspicions of being a radicalized group trying to join the terrorist group Islamic State». On September the 10th, Turkish police officers arrested two of the five holidaymakers at the hotel.

«There, they asked us to tell them where our friends were. As we were not all together, we started looking for them, in the hotel and in the neighborhood. We ended up finding them. Every time, we asked why they are after us but they only spoke Turkish. The hotel staff was translating for us. At first they told us it's for a visa problem. Later, at the police station, they said something else,» said one of them to RTBF.

Young people are confronted by anti-terrorism agents who question them about ISIS. The young people remained in detention until their saw the judge, «without being able to take a shower, without a walk, sometimes without eating,» says the RTBF. The five men have a lot in common : four are from Molenbeek, Arab-Muslim culture and North African origin.

«A case has been opened at the Brussels public prosecutor's office following the departure of five young people from Brussels to Turkey under suspicious conditions. As the investigation is still ongoing, the Brussels public prosecutor's office has not ordered the Turkish authorities to arrest the alleged jihadists», said the prosecutor's spokesman.