İZMİR- Aegean Association for Solidarity with Families of Prisoners (TUYAH-DER) Co-Chair Ahmet Ertaş told that the prisoners, who are heavily sick are left to die in prisons.

 

According to the data of Ministry of Jusitce there is a total number of 282,703 prisoners held in 355 prisons in Turkey. Human Rights Association's data state there are 1,344 sick prisoners, 458 out of them being heavily sick, who are officially reported "not to be able to stay in prison" by the Forensic Medicine Institute. As the health conditions of many heavily sick prisoners get worse day by day, sick prisoner Sabri Kaya, who had heart attacks and celebral bleeding many times in the Osmaniye No.2 Type T Prison he was held, lost his life the day he was released.

 

SICK PRISONERS HAVE CRITICAL CONDITIONS

 

As Kaya lost his life, the concerns regarding the lives of sick prisoners increased. Aegean Association for Solidarity with Families of Prisoners (TUHAY-DER) Co-Chair Ahmet Ertaş spoke to Mezopotamya Agency regarding the critical situation of sick prisoners and raised the call to release the sick prisoner immediately. 

 

Emphasizing the fact that sick prisoners face even worse risk of death under the threat of the coronavirus pandemic, Ertaş told that "The government follows a hostile policy. As the government insists on turning a deaf ear on us, we insist on raising our voice. There are special policies of the government as well as the administrations of prisons against the prisoners."

 

PRISONER WITH BREAST CANCER HAS NO TREATMENT IN PRISON

 

Stating that the government turned the COVID-19 pandemic into an opportunity as they passed a new execution law enabling many prisoners to be released excuding the political prisoners Ertaş drew attention to the sick prisoners: "Fatma Özbey has breast cancer and she is not treated in the prison as she needs chemotherapy. The prison administration does not even give her medicine or apply her the necessary tests, showing the coronavirus pandemic as an excuse."

 

Ertaş share the information that there are hundreds of prisoners with health diseases of heart and lungs, as well as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) just in the Aegean region. 

 

'AFTER THE ANGIO, HE WAS TAKEN BACK TO THE PRISON'

 

There are many sick prisoners, whose stories Ertaş shared. One of them is Gergin Durak, who had been hospitalized after the heart attack he had in Balıkesir Burhaniye Closed Prison: "He had an angio operation and was taken back to the prison. He is held in quarantine under quite unhealthy circumstances. The government applies hostile policies and left the prisoners to die. We do not accept these practices. All the volunteers here in Ege TUHAY-DER, we know that the prisoners face critical health problems and we follow their situation closely. We need the government to release a new execution law to empty the prisons and especially to release the sick prisoners immediately and unconditionally.