Former HDP co-chair for Muş province, ill prisoner Muhlise Karagüzel (64), has been released. Having fallen ill many times and undergone surgeries in prison due to chronic diseases, Karagüzel spoke to our agency about the rights violations in prisons and the difficulties faced by ill inmates.
While serving as former provincial co-chair of the HDP in Muş, Karagüzel was detained on 9 August 2019 and was initially sentenced to 8 years and one month in prison on the charge of “membership in an illegal organization.” The verdict was later overturned by the Court of Cassation. After retrial, she was sentenced again to 7 years and 6 months on the same charge. During this time of imprisonment, she struggled with multiple chronic illnesses due to her advancing age. Held first in Muş and then in Kayseri Bünyan Women’s Closed Prison, she underwent angioplasty five times and suffered three heart attacks. While the Kayseri Forensic Medicine Institute (ATK) stated that she “cannot remain in prison,” the Istanbul ATK issued the opposite report, saying she “can remain in prison.”
As her health deteriorated, Karagüzel was transferred on 4 April 2023 to Izmir Menemen R-Type Closed Prison for treatment. While there, her sentence was postponed and she was released in February 2024. Suffering from heart disease, diabetes, hypertension, asthma, and herniated discs in her neck and back, she was re-arrested in October 2024 following a detention order by the Muş Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office after two postponements of her sentence. During this period she was held in Amed D-Type Closed Prison and was released the other day.
Serious violations suffered
Speaking to our agency about the difficulties she experienced as an ill inmate and recent conditions in prisons, Karagüzel said she faced serious violations, particularly in Menemen R-Type Prison where she was sent for treatment. Saying “prisons are not places for sick people,” she called for the release of ill prisoners. She recounted that after her detention she stayed in prisons in Muş, Kayseri, İzmir, and finally Amed, and that her illnesses began as soon as she entered prison.
Karagüzel said: “In Kayseri I had a very hard time. I underwent angioplasty five times and suffered three heart attacks. As soon as I arrived in Kayseri, I had a heart attack and was immediately taken to the hospital. I was put in intensive care and had angioplasty there on two consecutive days. After staying in hospital for eight days, I was sent back to prison. A month later I became ill again and had another angioplasty. When my condition worsened in Kayseri, they took me before a medical board. At first, they rejected it, then they issued a report saying ‘cannot remain in prison.’ They sent me to Izmir for treatment.”
Karagüzel added: “Conditions in Menemen Prison were very bad. In Kayseri, I was among my friends, but in Menemen I was alone. They never addressed me by my name, constantly calling me ‘this terrorist.’ I responded to them. Instead of getting better when I went for treatment, my condition worsened. We were allowed into the yard only once a day. We were surrounded by criminal inmates. My yard time was at 11 a.m., and it was so hot at that hour that as soon as I stepped outside, my blood pressure and blood sugar would rise. So I couldn’t even go out to the yard.”
Ill people cannot stay in prison
Drawing attention to the problems and violations faced by ill prisoners, Karagüzel said sick inmates are deprived of many rights: “There are many hardships in prisons, but the biggest one is being taken late to the hospital. Sometimes there were urgent situations, but it would take a day before we could go to hospital. Sometimes our friends would lose hope for us, yet we still weren’t taken immediately. They sent sick prisoners to hospital very late. There were many difficulties in Kayseri, but I experienced the worst in İzmir. Prison conditions are extremely hard for someone who is ill. There are serious deficiencies in nutrition, treatment, living conditions, and even access to vitamins. It is impossible for a sick person to receive proper treatment and recover in prison conditions. Patients leave prison in worse shape than when they entered. There are hardships and violations in everything from food to social areas. This has become systematic. These problems existed in every prison.”
We must stand up for peace
Stating that prisoners hold strong hopes for peace and support the process, Karagüzel said: “Today people are talking about peace, and these problems in prisons must be fixed. As mothers who want peace, we look at this process with great hope but also great concern. We have struggled for peace for years. As a mother who wants peace, I spent years in prison so that no one would have to cry. Prisoners also want this process to end positively. This process should not be carried out in fear, and concrete steps must be taken. Today neither guerrillas’ mothers nor soldiers’ mothers should cry; no one should suffer. All mothers should join hands and grow this peace. I spent years in prison, and despite everything I went through, my only demand is ‘peace.’ The peace process is harder than war, but we must stand by it.”