ANKARA, Turkey – Hassan Alavi, an 84-year-old Kurd sentenced to six years in prison for pro-Kurdish activities, takes his place alongside more than 500 sick political prisoners in Turkey who human rights organizations say are denied adequate healthcare.
Alavi, who suffers from asthma and is unable to walk, was jailed in Mus after his sentence was upheld by the Turkish Supreme Court. He was charged with “aiding and abetting the terrorist organization,” a euphemism for sympathy with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
“He is unable to walk and suffers from asthma and several other illnesses, but the Supreme Court approved his prison sentence,” complained Omer Ozun, head of the Mus Branch of the Federation for Solidarity with Relatives of Prisoners.
“You can be 12 or 84, your age does not matter,” he told Rudaw. “If you are a Kurd, there is no justice for you in Turkish courts.”
According to Turkey’s Human Rights Association (IHD), there are 544 sick political prisoners in Turkish jails, after two died in prison this month.
“The situation of sick inmates whose right to health has been taken away from them is getting worse each day,” said Derya Us, head of the Federation for Solidarity with Relatives of Prisoners, at a protest outside the Diyarbakir prison on Tuesday.
“The political prisoners live under very difficult conditions in Turkish jails. That is why coffins of prisoners are constantly coming out of prisons,” she said at the four-day protest, attended by members of several rights organizations.
“Political prisoners Halil Gunes, Semsettin Kargili and Adnan Yalcin are extremely sick in this prison. And they have been given medical reports which prove their illnesses by hospitals, but the forensic medicine institute gives them reports that declare they can maintain their lives in prison. That means the political prisoners are dragged to death incrementally. The state is responsible for the health of those people but it is trying to take revenge on them by executing them,” she declared.
Meanwhile, in a comment to reporters before departing for a visit to Italy on Tuesday, Turkish President Abdullah Gul said that he did not have the legal power to release or pardon anyone. “I can step in only when a report of the forensic medicine institute is submitted to me,” Gul said.
According to the Turkish Ministry of Justice, 2,300 prisoners have lost their lives in prisons over the last 13 years.
Izzet Topgac, a prisoner who shares the same ward with Alavi, wrote an open letter calling for the authorities to release the 84-year-old. “He cannot get warm in this ward. We cut a blanket and sewed kneepads for him but he still feels cold all the time. We wait by his side every night because we are worried about his deteriorating health,” he said in the letter.
The number of sick inmates dying in prison continues to climb. Seyithan Taskiran, a 44-year-old political prisoner, died of a heart attack at Bitlis Prison early this month, after six years in jail.
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