Police attacked families of prisoners during the hearing at a court in the Istanbul district of Kartal on Tuesday.

The trial of 399 ex-prisoners resumed in the case of the Ümraniye Massacre which had been targeted along with 19 jails in the “Back to Life” operation on December 19, 2000. The operation which was carried out by 10 thousand security officers targeted political prisoners who had been on a mass hunger strike in 20 jails since 20 October and turned it to death fast on 19 November in protest against F Type prisons. 30 inmates were killed in the operation.

The hearing in Kartal Courthouse was also attended by the families of defendants on trial. Tension broke out in the hearing room as police attacked the families with tear gas when they wanted to speak to their children. Families were forcibly taken out of the hearing room, with some of them fainting and suffering injuries in the brutal police attack.

The court board adjourned the hearing to 30 September.