The release of Kurdish local politician Rojin Durmaz from prison has been postponed once again. The administration of the women’s prison in Amed (tr. Diyarbakır) justified the decision, among other things, with a request by the prisoner to be transferred to the high-security prison in Imrali – a move that was interpreted as “an indication of her continuing proximity to the banned organization.”
Durmaz, who was co-chair of the HDP organization in Mardin’s Derik district and was sentenced to nine years in prison in 2019 for alleged membership of the PKK, was originally due to be released in April. Back then, her release was postponed by six months. With the new decision, the Observation Board of the women’s prison extended her sentence until at least April 2026.
Disciplinary penalties and hunger strike as justification
In its reasoning, the Observation Board stated that Durmaz had received a total of 14 disciplinary penalties, including two periods of solitary confinement. Most recently, she was sanctioned in January 2024 for participating in a hunger strike. The prison administration assessed this form of protest as “an expression of continuing ideological affinity” with the PKK and thus as further evidence of a lack of remorse and distance from the crime of which she is accused.
A recent assessment report also stated that Durmaz had “shown no credible renunciation of her actions” and was still considered at risk of reoffending. Her request to be transferred to Imrali prison island, where Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan has been imprisoned since 1999, was explicitly cited as evidence.
DEM Party: Decision politically motivated
The DEM Party sharply criticized the decision. Member of Parliament Beritan Güneş Altın brought the case to parliament and accused the prison administration of acting on “ideological and political motives.” In a motion to the Turkish Parliament’s Human Rights Commission, she called for a review of the decision.
“The mere reference to the Imrali application in the statement of reasons shows that a political stance is being used as a reason for increasing the severity of the sentence,” the MP stated. The justification based on an alleged lack of remorse also lacks any legal basis and represents a reversal of the presumption of innocence, she said.
The next review of the conditions for Rojin Durmaz’s release is scheduled for April 25, 2026.