Ramallah — Turkey has been delaying in returning the body of Zaki Mubarak, a Palestinian man who was detained on alleged espionage charges and died in a Turkish prison, to hide the signs of torture which resulted in his death, Mubarak’s family members claimed in an interview with Al Arabiya.

“The Turks have been delaying the return of Zaki’s body. They were supposed to return the body last Thursday, then they said on Friday. Since then they have not delivered the body,” said Sanaa Mubarak, the Palestinian man’s sister.

“The Turks have been delaying the process to hide the signs of torture they inflicted on him and to hide their heinous crime. Are they waiting for the body to rot so that an autopsy would not show the reason of death? That it was not suicide but murder?” she asked.

Turkey said last Monday that Mubarak, one of two Palestinian men arrested on alleged espionage charges in April, said he committed suicide in the prison. Mubarak’s family said they were skeptical of the suicide claims and called for an investigation into the matter.

Sanaa Mubarak said that Turkish authorities informed the family that at least one of the deceased’s daughters must personally retrieve his body.

“We are afraid of sending his daughters there. They killed their father. Right now, we do not feel safe. We want the safety of his daughters guaranteed so that they can go and retrieve their father’s remains,” Sanaa added. — SG