17 detained as police attack rally for sick prisoners in Istanbul

In Istanbul, activists of a prisoner solidarity initiative were again attacked by the police and 17 people were violently detained on Thursday. Journalists were also forced back with violence.

The initiative “Solidarity with Prisoners” wanted to make a statement in front of the Forensic Medicine Institute (ATK) in Yenibosna demanding the release of all prisoners who are unfit for detention. The building was already besieged by the police beforehand, the reason given being a ban on assemblies imposed by the district governorate for one month. The initiative, which is mainly made up of relatives of prisoners, was supported by HDP MPs Züleyha Gülüm and Zeynel Özen.

After the police attack, Özen condemned the repression and said that sick people die in Turkish prisons all the time. He said that forensic medicine contributes to the deaths in the prison system due to politically motivated certificates of fitness for detention. The HDP MP referred to the Kurdish politician Aysel Tuğluk, who is suffering from dementia in prison and can no longer care for herself:

“The dying continues and the forensic medicine is partly to blame. Aysel has been given a clear certificate in hospital, which is ignored by the forensic medicine. That is why she is being brought here again for assessment and kept under supervision for three weeks. At this point, we appeal to the doctors of forensic medicine: do not be complicit and keep to the oath of Hippocrates that you have taken. Keep your honour and do not contribute to the deaths.”

Züleyha Gülüm demanded the immediate release of the detained activists. At least eleven people have died in prison in Turkey since the beginning of December. Almost all of them were political prisoners.

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