ŞIRNAK - Ramazan Özyiğit, a 75-year-old ill prisoner who has been in prison for 29 years, is kept in solitary confinement despite the medical report documenting that "He cannot to stay in prison".

 

605 ill prisoners in Turkish prisons are at a greater risk together with the COVID-19 pandemic. One of them is Ramazan Özyiğit, a 75-year-old ill prisoner who was sent behind bars on charges of being a member of an [illegal] organization in 1991. Özyiğit has seen 8 different prisons in those 29 years away from freedom.

 

Özyiğit has been kept in solitary confinement in Van High Security Prison, where he was finally transferred. Özyiğit has undergone 7 different surgeries due heart and kidney diseases as well as his diabetes, hypertension and hearing loss. He is unable to meet his needs alone due to his advanced age combined with many health problems. His health condition gets worse each day he spent behind the bars.

 

HE HAS A MEDICAL REPORT STATING 'HE CANNOT STAY IN PRISON'

 

Şerife Özyiğit, the wife of the old prisoner, living in the İdil district of Şırnak said that her husband has a medical report by Forensic Medicine Institute (ATK) documenting that "He cannot stay in prison". Özyiğit said, "He had 7 surgeries since he was imprisoned. He has been ill and living on medical treatment for the 29 years he spent in prison. He has chronical diseases. He also has a 'can't stay in prison' report. Despite all that, he is not released. He is not able to hear as well. Even though he is 75 years old, he is in solitary confinement all alone and he is always taken to hospital due to his health problems. His condition get worse each day."

 

PRISON CONDITIONS

 

Özyiğit stated that the food in the prison is also not good for the health of her husband. "He has diabetes and hypertension together with a heart disease and also a kidney disease. He cannot eat the food served in the prison with all that. Despite all the complaints and objections, the prison management does nothing about the food. My husband always talks about how bad the food is in the prison in all my visits. The conditions of the prison cause my husband's illness to progress." Özyiğit asked, "The prison conditions are so bad even for a healthy person, how can an ill-person stay there?"

 

'WE ARE NOT ABLE TO AFFORD HIS MEDICINE'

 

Telling her husband's story, there is also the story Şerif Özyiğit, who expresses her sadness stating that she spent 29 years of her life in front of the gates of the prisons. "He was transferred to many prisons, from the Erzurum Prison to the İskenderun Prison. I have been in front of the prison gates for 29 years. What harm can a 75-year-old man cause for the state? I could not go for his visit for a year due to many problems and the lawyers are not able to visit him due to the coronavirus measures. We have no clear information regarding his health now. We are not even able to afford his medicine."

 

'DON'T LET HIM GET OUT OF THE PRISON AS A DEAD BODY'

 

Özyiğit stated that it is the state, who is responsible if anything bad happened to her husband. "Don't let my husband to get out of the prison as a dead body. At least release those prisoners who are ill."

 

MA / Zeynep Durgut