Ömer Faruk Yazmacı, who spoke to Mezopotamya Agency, stated that between July and October, eight prisoners were not released despite having completed their sentences.
Yazmacı emphasized that the Prison Administration and Observation Board was acting under a “repentance imposition,” adding, “Kırşehir Type S Prison does not release anyone. Every inmate’s file includes the note stating, ‘It has been observed that the prisoner shows no remorse.’”
They act out of a sense of revenge
Yazmacı said that especially, prisoners affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) are treated “with a historical sense of revenge” in prisons. He stated that the Prison Administration and Observation Boards have turned into bodies acting above the courts, behaving arbitrarily and politically.
Yazmacı noted that prisoners are asked questions such as “Who is Abdullah Öcalan?”, “Are you remorseful?”, and “Name Turkey’s enemies,” and that the answers to these questions are used as grounds to extend their sentences.
He also reported that some prisoners are pressured to turn informant during meetings with psychologists, and even their phone conversations with family members are punished under the pretext of “failure to reintegrate into society.”
Irrational justifications
Yazmacı said, “The Prison Administration and Observation Boards fabricate extremely unreasonable excuses in decisions that directly affect human lives, and sentences are being extended on irrational grounds.”
The eight prisoners whose releases were blocked are: Hüseyin Bilecan, Ebubekir Yulu, Ahmet Nas, Hacı Geciken, Cemil Ivrendi, Recep Ergülü, Mustafa Şihi, and Mikail Saklı.