Prisoner Ölmez says violations of rights have increased in Antalya jail

Rights violations against prisoners continue in Antalya S Type Prison.

Prisoner Harun Ölmez talked about the rights violations in the weekly phone call he had with his family. “The administration refuses to engage in dialogue and does not resolve the issues we have communicated,” Ölmez said.

3-4 spoons of food and rotten tomatoes…

Noting that each of the political prisoners were put in separate wards, Ölmez said: “Some of our friends cannot afford a television and a refrigerator because they do not have financial means. We make a petition but our petitions are regularly lost. They don’t want us to raise these issues. Our family conversations are recorded. All of our social activities are prohibited. We are having a food problem. Previously, two loaves of bread were given a day, now only one loaf is given. Upon our protest, they began to give once again two loaves of bread. However, they reduced the weight of the bread very, very much. Bread is not enough for us. There are no vitamins in the food. Because of this, our friends get sick. For breakfast, they gave us a tomato, half of which was rotten. They give 5 olives per person. No meat dishes. They give us 3 or 4 spoons of food, not an entire meal. For 10 days, we did not get food for other friends to fill their stomachs, but there was no change.”

‘They cut the electricity in the wards’

Ölmez said that some of the prisoners could not pay the bills due to the high cost of electricity and thus their wards were left without electricity. “The electricity bill has increased too much. They threaten to cut the electricity if we don’t pay the electricity bill one day. Some wards had the electricity cut off because they could not pay the bill. As a result, they could not make tea or food.”

‘Make our voices heard’

Noting that there are also prisoners who are not released despite the expiry of their sentence, Ölmez said: “We are protesting against this situation, but no results are obtained. Therefore, we call on all groups who defend the rights of detainees, human rights defenders and democrats to hear our voice and make our voices heard.”