Lawyer Yalçındağ: Aysel Tuğluk must be released immediately

Kurdish politician Aysel Tuğluk, who suffers from severe dementia, is unfit for detention, according to an expert opinion from the Kocaeli University Hospital. The report states that she is unable to continue her life on her own under detention conditions. Nevertheless, the Institute of Forensic Medicine (ATK) in Istanbul transferred her back to prison after a three-day stay. The result of the expert opinion is now awaited. However, the institute is notorious for its close ties to the AKP/MHP regime and its political decisions.

“I know how much my client’s health has deteriorated”

Tuğluk’s lawyer, Reyhan Yalçındağ, reported that the court had given the Forensic Institute three weeks to investigate Tuğluks “fitness for detention”. However, the institute sent the politician back to prison after only three days. Yalçındağ continued: “The court’s decision mentioned a deadline of up to three weeks. Of course, this does not mean that a report can only be made after three weeks of examination. In order to determine the severity of my client’s condition, as the specialists at Kocaeli University Hospital show, three days could also be enough. At least that is what I would like to think until the report comes out. Because I know how much my client’s health is deteriorating. In fact, when my colleagues visited Tuğluk on Saturday, they noticed that she was very tired.”

Seven months have passed since the Faculty of Forensic Medicine at Kocaeli University determined Tuğluk’s “incapacity for detention”. When Tuğluk was brought to Istanbul, the dean’s office of the neurology department of Istanbul University’s Faculty of Medicine also stated, based on records, that the disease was progressing exceptionally fast considering Tuğluk’s age and that she therefore needed to be examined by an experienced medical institution. In view of these facts, Yalçındağ expressed hope that a decision would follow within two weeks.

“The situation is neither compatible with the law nor with conscience”

Yalçındağ drew attention to the situation of sick prisoners and recalled that seven prisoners died in custody in December alone. “Although the Human Rights Association (IHD) and the Human Rights Foundation in Turkey (TIHV) have submitted relevant reports on these seriously ill prisoners to the relevant Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Health, nothing is being done,” said the lawyer and added, “It happens that the prisoners mentioned in the report of the human rights organisations die one by one or die in solitary cells where they are put under suspicious circumstances. The current situation cannot be explained by law, by conscience or by any human value. If it continues, more prisoners will lose their lives.”

“Tuğluk is denied the right to healthcare”

Regarding the situation of Aysel Tuğluk, Yalçındağ stated: “Aysel has been imprisoned because of the statements she made as an MP. In this regard, we have turned to the Constitutional Court. While at the moment the focus is on her serious illness, this fact must also be pointed out. She has been imprisoned for exercising her right to free speech and political activity in political processes. That is why she was unlawfully imprisoned. So, while she is unlawfully imprisoned anyway, she is being actively prevented from accessing health care. The treatment of people who suffer such health problems is already difficult outside. This situation is also confirmed by expert reports. Our client must be released immediately.”

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