Human Rights Association (IHD) Istanbul Branch Prisons Commission made a statement in front of the association building in the 649th week of the protests. This week's action drew attention to the health condition of Abdulkadir Kuday, an ill prisoner in Metris Type R Prison. 

 

IHD Prison Commission member Hatice Onaran read the press statement.

 

Stating that Abdulkadir Kuday is suffering from Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Onaran pointed out that the disease is fatal. Onaran listed Kuday's health problems and said: “He has ALS, a fatal neurological disease caused by damage to nerve cells responsible for controlling the movement of voluntary muscles such as chewing, walking and speaking, and leg paralysis that developed after a herniated disc surgery, People with ALS experience facial paralysis, hearing loss, tinnitus, loss of vision, weakness and loss of sensation in the feet and hands, difficulty swallowing, severe pain in the waist, back, neck and abdomen, vomiting, sleep apnea, chest tightness and burning sensation, excessive weight loss, severe stomach and digestive system problems.” 

 

'WEIGHT UNDER 40'

 

Onaran stated that Kuday's body weight has fallen below 40 and that he has lost his ability to speak and is bedridden, living his life with the help of his disabled friend in the same ward. Reminding that the Forensic Medicine Institution (ATK) has repeatedly given the report “He cannot stay in prison”, Onaran stated that the applications made were fruitless. 

 

After the statement, the protest ended with slogans.

 

ANKARA 

 

Freedom for Ill Prisoners Initiative gathered in front of IHD Ankara Branch in the 521st week of their protests to draw attention to the situation of sick prisoners. Initiative members carried a banner reading “Treatment is a right and cannot be prevented, release ill prisoners”.

 

PRISONER WITH HEART DISEASE

 

This week's protest drew attention to the situation of ill prisoner Ayhan Aykaç in Kırşehir High Security Closed Prison. Ömer Faruk Yazmacı, Co-Chair of IHD Ankara Branch, stated that Aykaç has a heart disease and informed that Aykaç had an angioplasty due to this disease. 

 

KEPT IN SOLITARY CONFINEMENT

 

However, Aykaç's discomfort continues and the medication he is taking does not relieve his illness and his condition is getting more and more alarming day by day, Yazmacı said: “Although fresh air and movement are recommended in addition to medication, it is not possible for him to do this in the High Security Center where he is being held. He is being held alone in a cell with no ventilation for 23 hours a day, 24 hours when the weather is bad, with no contact with fresh air. Although he requested to be transferred to a prison with its own ventilation in the same campus, he was rejected.”

 

HE NEEDS SURGERY

 

Yazmacı stated that Aykaç had to undergo surgery for a herniated disc in his neck and said: “However, the aftermath of the surgery is as important as the surgery itself and open surgery has risks as it is open to complications.”

 

 REQUEST FOR POSTPONEMENT OF EXECUTION

 

Stating that Aykaç also suffers from cervical dystonia, chronic reflux, esophagitis and bile leakage into the stomach, which are thought to be caused by trauma or stress, “We demand that the conditions he lives in be improved, that his examinations and treatments be carried out in full, that committee reports be obtained due to his severe illnesses and that his execution be postponed until he recovers” Yazmacı said.