Political prisoners vows to resist against oppression in Turkish prisons 

2021-12-23 10:24:15


	 

	İSTANBUL - Stating that the prisoners in Silivri No 3 Type L Prison are subjected to systematic torture and ill-treatment, prisoners vowed to resist against oppression.

	 

	Following the raid on Silivri No. 5 Type L Closed Prison on October 8 by the gendarmerie and guards, nearly 200 prisoners were transferred to  No. 2, 3, 4 and 7 Type L Prisons. The books and clothes of many prisoners who were battered during transfer were confiscated. In addition, an identity card written "terrorist criminal" was imposed on the prisoners in the prisons where they were taken. The communication and visiting rights of the prisoners who did not accept this identity card and objected were banned.

	 

	Lawyer Raziye Öztürk, who met with her clients Azad Altıntaş, Xemgin Karakaş and Şevket Beyhan, who are held in Silivri No. 3 Type L Prison, shared that the prisoners are forced to take off their shoes on the way to infirmary, their meetings with their lawyers, to make weekly phonecalls and when they are taken to court. Öztürk said, "They step on their feet with the heels of their shoes while the prisoners are barefoot."

	 

	PRISONERS WERE THREATENED

	 

	Stating that political prisoners are forced to carry ID cards that says they are terrorists, Öztürk told that investigations are launched against the prisoners who refuse to carry these ID cards. Conveying the message of the prisoners, Öztürk said: "They said they have boxes of disciplinary punishment files already. Öztürk also stated that Azad Altıntaş had a meeting with the prison director Kahraman Topaloğlu and he was threatened and insulted during this meeting. 

	 

	PRISONER FORCED TO LAY ON THE GROUND AND BATTERED

	 

	Expressing that Altıntaş stood up against the threats, Öztürk said, "At the instigation of the principal, the head guard Ertuğrul Kaya and a few guards attacked Azad and battered him while he was forced to lay on the ground face down. While being taken to the room, he was beaten in the hallway, pushed against the walls and battered.” Öztürk stated that after this attack on the prisoner Altıntaş, the prisoners banged on the doors and protested the situation. Stating that nearly 100 guards went out to the corridors to intimidate the prisoners after this protest, Öztürk said, "The prisoners started shouting slogans and made the guards back down."

	 

	CRIMINAL COMPLAINT

	 

	Noting that Altıntaş filed a criminal complaint with the Bakırköy Chief Public Prosecutor's Office on Monday regarding the situation, Öztürk said, "Azad was taken to the infirmary after this criminal complaint. He received an assault report." Öztürk also informed that the letters Altıntaş sent to journalists and members of parliament regarding the situation were seized.

	 

	TORTURE DURING TRANSFER

	 

	Stating that many prisoners were subjected to ill-treatment and torture, during transfer, Öztürk said that the prisoners were put into solitary confinement or put into wards where FETÖ and ISIS prisoners are held. 

	 

	'WE WILL RESIST NO MATTER WHAT'

	 

	Emphasizing that the prison administrators are trying to break the prisoners, Öztürk said: "We can only stand up to this by making their voices heard. We have to expose these issues and take legal action against it. The prisoners have a message. They say they will resist no matter what and called on for awareness."

	 

	 

	MA / Mehmet Aslan