MERSIN - Mehmet Erbey, who is being held in Düzce Type T Prison, stated that his belongings were stormed and they were subjected to a strip search during the raid on the wards, and that the draft of the book he had been working on for one and a half year was also confiscated.

 

In prisons, where oppression, violations of rights and arbitrary treatment continue unabated, prisoners are not released despite they served their time on the demand of the prison administrations. Mehmet Erbey, who was sentenced to 25 years in prison after being arrested on charges of 'membership of a terrorist organisation' in Van in 2009 and is currently held in Düzce Type T Prison, told what happened in the prison in a phone call with his mother Meryem Erbey (65) two weeks ago.

 

Stating that his ward was stromed and his belongings were damaged in a raid carried out by the prison guards, Erbey said: "The book I had been working on for more than one and a half years was also confiscated. The prison guards are applying psychological pressure on us to commit suicide." 

 

 

'EVEN THE SALT AND PEPPER WAS CONFISCATED'

 

Stating that her son left school because he was exposed to constant pressure for speaking Kurdish while studying at Mersin University, Erbey said: "After my son, who joined the PKK, died in 2006, the pressure against us increased. My son was detained and arrested in 2009 on the grounds that he was 'conducting terrorist activities', and was exiled to Adana, Zonguldak and Düzce prisons. The guards confiscated his book draft on 'human history'. They took everything. Even the salt and pepper was confiscated."

 

'THIS CAN ONLY BE EXPLAINED BY HATRED TOWARDS KURDS'

 

Erbey said: "The more we accept silence, the more we will be persecuted. There is so much cruelty on the prisoners. They are not allowed to buy newspapers in prison, the state want to completely cut off the prisoners'connections with the outside. When they protest, they batter them. Mehmet was banned from sending letters for the last 3 weeks. This can only be explained by hatred towards Kurds. They do not want the Kurds to claim their rights, they imprison journalists who reveal the truth. Turkey is no longer a state of law, it has become a rogue state. Our children are isolated inside, and we are isolated outside. The Kurdish people must be united, we must raise our voices for our children. We must break down the walls that have been built between us. The state is responsible for any harm that could come to our children."