ANKARA - Attorney Ezgi Güngördü, who has been observing Aysel Tuğluk's heaşth situation since the first day and accompanying Tuğluk through SEBGİS, said: "Tuğluk asked 'Who is this' three times for her attorney. This is beyond enemy law." 

 

The court forced Aysel Tupluk, suffering from dementia on August 1 during Kobane Case hearing in which 108 politicians are on trial regarding the protests during the ISIS attack against Kobané on October 6-8, 2014.

 

Tuğluk, who was diagnosed with dementia in February 2021, participated in the hearing in Kandıra Prison with the Audio and Visual Information System (SEGBİS), but she had a hard time remembering the basic information about herself.  ATK, which reported that Tuğluk could "remain in prison" 3 times, opened the way for the release of Çevik Bir, the defendant of the February 28 trial, by giving a report that he "cannot remain in prison" on the grounds of dementia.

 

Lawyer Ezgi Güngördü, who participated at the hearing with Tuğluk in Kandıra High Security Prison via SEGBİS, evaluated what happened in the SEGBİS room, her observations on how Tuğluk's dementia progressed, and the court's attitude to the Mesopotamia Agency (MA).

 

'I CAN'T REMEMBER WHAT WE TALKED ABOUT 5 MINUTES AGO'

 

Lawyer Güngördü, who has been visiting Tuğluk since the day she was arrested, said that the attack on her mother's funeral, they started to observe that something was wrong with Tuğluk. Güngördü stated that before the diagnosis of dementia, Tuğluk complained of headaches for a long time and then she was examined by the doctors and tests has been conducted, and then they gradually observed the symptoms of dementia. Expressing that she visits Tuğluk almost every week, Güngördü said, “She started having a hard time remembering my name. She remembered my face, but kept forgetting my name. She started having a hard time recognising attorneys and we saw that she got scared when she saw people she didn't know. Everytime we came, we saw that she did not remember what we talked about the previous week. We spoke about the hearing before we go, and we saw that she forgot what we talked about when we get there. This was a year ago. Now she doesn't remember what we spoke 5 minutes ago."

 

'SHE ASKED WHO HER ATTORNEY WAS THREE TIMES'

 

Stating that this happened in court before the eyes of the people there, Güngördü said: "She asked who her attorney was three times during the hearing. We told her that it was Çelebi, her attorney. He visits Ms. Tuğluk regularly. They know each other for years. She didn't even recognise Ayla Akat. What we have been seeing for months happened before the eyes of everyone. ATK insistantly says that she can remain in prison. This is an insistance on punishing her no matter what. The court board continued to ask questions even though it was obvious she was not in a condition to answer those questions. They are not even obeying their own laws."

 

'THERE IS A SPECIAL ATTITUDE TOWARDS HER'

 

Underlining that the fact that they forced Tuğluk to make her defense was a violation of the prohibition of torture, Güngördü said, “We cannot even say that this is enemy law. This is beyond enemy law. Ms. Tuğluk is a a symolic name in the Kurdish Women's liberation movement.There is a special attitude towards her."

 

'WE WILL MAKE ADDITIONAL STATEMENT TO HSK'

 

Güngördü reminded that the court board had filed a complaint with the Council of Judges and Prosecutors (HSK) for many unlawful acts before, and stated that they would make an additional statement to the HSK regarding the recent events. Finally, Güngördü stated that Tuğluk's health status was publicly seen by many in the last hearing and called for public awareness.

 

MA / Berivan Altan