İZMİR - 93 prisoners who were left to die in prisons in the last 17 months lost their lives. Stating that the government applies the law of the enemy, Ahmet Çiçek from İHD said that the double standard should be abandoned.

 

Under the AKP rule, basic human rights were suspended in prisons with systematic practices including oppression, violations of rights and torture. In particular, the prevention of the treatment of ill prisoners and the prevention of their release cause major violations of the right to life. According to the data of the Human Rights Association (İHD); 78 prisoners in 2022 and 15 in the first 5 months of 2023 lost their lives in prison. The prisoners were left to die because of the controversial decisions made by the Forensic Medicine Institute (ATK), who did not have access to the right to health. Many prisoners also died in suspicious circumstances.

 

According to İHD data, 1,517 patients, 651 of whom are seriously ill, are still in prison. Abdulhalim Kırtay, who was on the seriously ill prisoner list of the İHD and was released on March 22, died on May 12. Lastly, 31-year-old Behçet Kaplan, who was sentenced to 15 years in prison on charges of "being a member of a terrorist organization" in the file he was tried in 2014 in Bedlis and has been imprisoned for 9 years, passed away on May 15 in Ahlat Type T Prison, where he was held.

 

A total of 93 prisoners have lost their lives in prisons since 2022.

 

'ILL PRISONERS ARE RELEASED TO DIE'

 

Stating that especially political prisoners' right to access treatment is restricted, Ahmet Çiçek, spokesperson of the İHD İzmir Branch Prisons Commission said: "The prisoners are often not taken to the hospital by ambulance. For these reasons, prisoners sometimes do not want to go to the hospital because the appointments are late, the ill prisoners are getting worse; therefore, the prisoners are released to die. ATK sees the service of the government. Finally, at the age of 31, Behçet Kaplan died of cancer. Death occurred because his treatment was blocked. Abdulhalim Kırtay was also in prison for a very long time and was seriously ill. He was released in the last stage of his illness. He died 51 days after he was released. Prisoners are released near death. In other words, prisons have been turned into death houses."

 

‘THE GOVERNMENT IS APPLYING THE ENEMY LAW’

 

Reminding that Hezbollah members were released by the decision of the President of the AKP, Çiçek said: "Double standard practices should be abandoned. Since there is such an authority, everyone should be treated equally. Mehmet Emin Özkan is both old and seriously ill but he was not released. This government is applying the law of the enemy."

 

MA / Delal Akyüz