Activists send fax to ministry of justice demanding Tuğluk’s release

Jailed Kurdish politician Aysel Tuğluk, who suffers from dementia, is losing her ability to speak and her motor skills are limited. Tuğluk has been in Kandıra prison in the western Turkish province of Kocaeli since 28 December 2016. Despite the fact that she has been found to be incapacitated, her sentence has not been lifted.

The Union for Democracy (DIB) issued a statement in front of the public office department in Istanbul to raise concern over the health problems of jailed Aysel Tuğluk and to demand her immediate release.

The statement pointed to a report about the situation of Tuğluk, prepared by 9 specialist doctors from the Kocaeli Medical Faculty Forensic Medicine Department.

DİB member Ayşe Devecioğlu said the report found out that Tuğluk’s memory loss was chronic and deteriorating. The jailed politician was unable to continue her life under prison conditions, and her sentence should therefore be postponed, according to the report.

Deveciğoğlu criticised the Forensic Medicine Institute (ATK) which decided that Tuğluk could stay in prison despite the report in question. “The ATK Presidency is against the suspension of the sentences of political prisoners, which is repugnant to medical ethics. Reports issued by full-fledged hospitals are not recognized by the ATK. Sickness is being turned into a means of punishment by the government despite the international conventions that oblige governments to observe the health and right to life of detainees and convicts.

Devecioğlu reminded that according to the Human Rights Association (IHD) data, 1,605 ill prisoners, 604 of whom are seriously sick, remain in prisons and especially political prisoners are doomed to die in jail.

“There are seriously ill prisoners who cannot maintain their lives on their own. Prisoners who are not treated properly die in jail. Political prisoners have been doomed to die following an amendment in the Execution Law in 2013 which rejects release in the event that the prisoners in question “pose a danger to public safety”. Fascist mafia bosses like Alaattin Çakıcı, who openly threaten the opposition parties, are released since they are believed not to pose a security threat to society,” Devecioğlu said.

“Aysel Tuğluk and other sick prisoners who cannot be treated under prison conditions should be released immediately. As the Union for Democracy, we will continue our struggle against the violations of the right to life and health of Aysel Tuğluk and sick prisoners,” Devecioğlu added.

After the statement, members of the DIB went to the Eminönü PTT branch and sent a fax to the Ministry of Justice demanding Tuğluk’s release.