The Van office of the Kurdish-owned newspaper Ozgur Ulke was raided by plainclothes police on 24 January 1995. Dogan Denizhan, a correspondent, was reportedly taken away while being beaten. When the newspaper applied to Van police headquarters and other authorities in Van for information about his whereabouts, they denied holding him. Detainees held on suspicion of political offences may be kept incommunicado for up to 30 days in provinces under emergency legislation such as Van.
