Falsely Fingered But Still Jailed

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(Hürriyet Newspaper, 19 December 2011)

Taxi driver Ömer Tosun was stabbed in the heart on the night of 18
September 2010 by a passenger he picked up in Sultanbeyli, Istanbul.
Miraculously, Tosun survived and told police that 'I bit the hand of the
guy that stabbed me.' But this statement has meant trouble for Ismail Reis.

At the time that Tosun was knifed, Reis (26) was five kilometers away,
having crashed his car into a MOBESE (traffice surveillance system) pole.
Reis cut his pinky finger on a broken headlight and went to a hospital to
get stitches. Concurrently, acting on Tosun's statement that he had bitten
the hand of his attacker, police searched area hospitals for people who
may have gone there for stitches. Reis was taken into custody 13 days
later.

Tosun said in his statement that his assailant was '19 years old, middle
height and dark skinned.' When he saw the hospital video images of Reis
he said 'there's the attacker' and Reis (26) was arrested. The case is being
tried in the 3rd Serious Crimes Court in Kartal, where a 20 year sentence
is being sought for Reis. The court has refused Reis's request that the
MOBESE camera images be examined. And even though it has been
determined that the blood found in the taxi of Tosun's assailant was not
that of Reis, Reis is still being held.

Reis has adamently requested that he be brought to the Forensic Medicine
Council for an examination of the cut on his hand and 10 months after his
incarceration he has been brought there. He is hopeful that a report will
come out that will prove his innocence.