VAN - 80-year-old Makbule Özer, who was released, stated that they were arrested with her husband because they are Kurds, and said: “I didn't miss the outside world in prison because I was constantly ill.”

 

In the Edremit district of Van, 80-year-old Makbule Özer and her 79-year-old husband Hadi Özer were detained with their children in the police raid on their house on July 24, 2018. A lawsuit was filed against the Özer couple on the charge of "aiding a terrorist organisation". The Özer couple was sentenced to 2 years and 6 months in prison. The Özer couple were arrested on May 9, after the sentence was upheld, and sent to the Van High Security Prison. Makbule Özer, whose health condition worsened, was released yesterday after the intense public reacation. Özer's sentence was postponed for one year. Hadi Özer is still held in the same prison.

 

ÖZER: I WAS ILL THE WHOLE TIME

 

Speaking to the Mesopotamia Agency (MA) and stating that she had a lot of problems in prison and was ill the whole time, Özer said: “I was not doing well because I was ill the whole time. I could not meet my needs on my own. The women in the ward were helping me take a bath and cooking my meals. There are many ill prisoners in the prison. The treatment of ill prisons is not adequately provided and there are no healthy conditions."

 

'THERE WAS NO KURDISH INTERPRETER IN ATK'

 

Stating that she was held in a room alone for 2 days when she was transferred to the Istanbul Forensic Medicine Institute (ATK), Özer said: “I spoke Kurdish when I went to ATK. I was held there for two days. One day, I was taken to the hospital and my examinations were done. The other day, I was brought before the delegation. There was no Kurdish interpreter there, only one doctor in the delegation helped and spoke in Kurdish. Other doctors were speaking in Turkish. This is cruelty. We were arrested because we are Kurds. There was also a 2-year-old boy named Baran in the ward. He was crying when I was being relased, saying 'Don't go, grandma!" His crying made me cry too. I thought about him all the time last night and I couldn't sleep until morning. My hope is that my husband will be released as well because he's ill and old as well. I hope all ill prisoners will be released because ill prisoners are treated under very difficult conditions or not being treated at all.”