Caught on camera: Shocking moment Turkish police beat handcuffed woman... and now SHE faces jail for 'reckless behaviour'

Group of Turkish officers were caught on a police station CCTV camera

Fevziye Cengiz slapped in face, thrown to ground and had hair pulled

Government minister calls for punishment of policemen



A group of Turkish policemen have sparked national outrage after they were caught on camera repeatedly slapping a woman in the face, throwing her to the ground and pulling her hair.

CCTV footage shows Fevziye Cengiz, who had been arrested after a nightclub raid for not having her ID, being beaten at the Izmir police station even after she had been handcuffed.

A high-ranking Turkish government minister is now calling for the speedy punishment of the officers - who are facing 18 months in prison for 'causing injury through excessive force'.

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Beaten: Fevziye Cengiz, who had been arrested after a nightclub raid for not having her ID, was taken to a police station in Izmir

Victim: Fevziye Cengiz pictured in the immediate aftermath of the beating (left) and this week (right)

But, in a bizarre twist, Cengiz herself is facing six years in jail for 'resisting arrest and reckless behaviour'.

Fatma Sahin, Turkey's family and social policies minister, said: 'The incident in Izmir is unacceptable and we definitely consider this incident as one for which the perpetrators should be punished.

'There is political will and state authority to take the required action in a speedy way. Therefore, both legal and administrative investigations have been launched and those policemen are suspended.'

But Sahina also said the case was 'an individual mistake' and suggested it was not typical of all Turkish police.

Cengiz, who was dressed in shorts and a tank-top, is seen having a heated argument with two plain-clothed police officers.

Suddenly they start slapping her and yanking her hair. She is later wrestled to the ground. After being handcuffed, she is held against a wall and slapped in the face.

Floored: Here two plain-clothed officers are seen holding her down on the ground as they handcuff her

Threatening: In these images the officers are seen grabbing her face and pulling her hair



Shocking: One officer points his finger in her face as he grabs her by the throat, as another pulls her hair. A third looks on

The incident took place in July but only provoked anger this week after the silent video was broadcast by Turkish television.

Cengiz's lawyer Hanife Yildirim told CNN: 'The violence against my client, which started when she was taken with the excuse that she did not have her ID, continued at the police station.

'When I met my client almost a week later, she still had a black eye and there were other marks on her.' Cengiz, on her release, filed a formal complaint against the police. But police pressed criminal charges against her for resisting arrest and 'reckless behaviour'.

Yildirim added: 'She is facing up to six years imprisonment. The charge against the policemen is 'cause of injury through excessive force' with up to 18 months punishment.'

The case sparked outrage throughout the media and among human rights groups in Turkey.

Coskun Usterci, of the Turkish Human Rights Foundation, said complaints of police torture had actually risen in 2011.

He also argued that the exposure of Cengiz's case was a rarity, because under usual circumstances the in-house police station video camera would have been tampered with.

The two police officers shown beating Cengiz are expected to appear in court in February 2012.