STRASBOURG, Feb 14 (AFP)  The European Court of Human Rights on Thursday condemned and fined Turkey for the 1993 death of a young Turkish Kurd who died after being tortured by the country's police.
Abdulselam Orak, 23, died of a stroke in June 1993, two weeks after being arrested on suspicion of involvment with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

The court sided with the victim's father, who charged the Turkish security forces with torturing his son and failing to provide him with medical attention.

It rejected the government's argument that Orak died of injuries incurred during an escape attempt.

"The government had not supplied any plausible explanation for the areas of bruising found, among other places, on A.O.'s arms and thighs, the soles of his feet, the top and sides of his head or of the scratches on his genitals," the ruling said.

The court found Turkey guilty of violating several European human rights laws, including the right to life and the ban on torture.

It ordered Turkey to pay 68,500 euros (59,600 dollars) to Orak's heirs and 4,000 euros (3,500 dollars) to his father, the plaintiff.

European human rights bodies have repeatedly condemned Turkey's prison and police systems, noting that lack of respect for human rights, in addition to its reinstatement of the death penalty and its harsh treatment of the Kurdish minority, continued to prevent it from joining the European Union.