Lawyers on death fast are experiencing excessive weight loss

2020-04-21 16:55:45


	 

	ANKARA - ÇHD member Didem Baydar Ünsal stated that death fasting lawyers Ebru Timtik and Aytaç Ünsal are experiencing excessive weight loss and said: "We invite everyone to be sensitive to hear our friends' voices."

	 

	Didem Baydar Ünsal, a member of the Contemporary Lawyers Association (ÇHD), shared the demands and recent situations of the arrested lawyers Ebru Timtik and Aytaç Ünsal, who have been on death fast since April 5. Ünsal stated that lawyers started the death fast in order to oppose all kinds of injustice and to fight for justice.

	 

	THEY ARE LOSING WEIGHT RAPIDLY

	 

	Ünsal told that her husband Aytaç Ünsal and her colleague Ebru Timtik are experiencing an excessive weight loss. Ünsal, pointing out that there is a limitation of attorneys in prisons due to coronavirus outbreak, said they can only communicate via phone. Stating that they can not access healthy information about their colleagues, said: "They are wiretapping our calls and recording our conversations. As a result, we can not speak freely on the phone. We do not condone or prefer this. But we know that they have lost a lot of weight. I don't know how much weight Ebru lost but Aytaç says he lost more than 10 kilos until now. Their blood pressure is normal at this point. But we know what is coming from the previous hunger strikes. Destruction starts fast."

	 

	Attorney Ünsal, reminding that Ebru Timtik is on her 110th day while Aytaç Ünsal is on his 79th day, said that the measures taken in the wards of the attorneys is not enough. Ünsal said: "Ebru is in Silivri Prison and I can say that there are no measures against coronavirus in Silivri. We know that they were not provided with masks or gloves. All prisoners are under great risk and they are staying with 10-12 people. Their wards are frequently being raided by guards. A lot of guards enter the wards without protection and we don't know if they are carriers. We will go to the prison next week. My husband is in Burhaniye Type T Prison. They do not have access to masks or gloves either. Their immunity is low due to long hunger. While even the smallest virus can do serious harm, corona is much more dangerous. All prisoners must be evacuated

	 

	2 MORE PEOPLE ON DEATH FAST

	 

	Ünsal said two more of their clients, Didem Akman and Özgür Karakaya are death fasting, demanding fair trial and the same demands with the lawyers. Ünsal, emphasizing that more and more people are starting death fasting, said they requested a meeting with the Ministry of Justice.  Ünsan said: "We can not make appointments. They don't call us back. They sometimes make excuses like their institution is closed due to coronavirus outbreak. In other words, the fact that their demands are not met is unacceptable. There will be more deaths. We don't want that to happen. We want our demands to be heard."

	 

	Ünsal made the following call: "We invite everyone to be sensitive towards the very legitimate demands of the lawyers. If anyone has the opportunity, we want them to contact Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of the Interior  or the Presidency to tell them about our demands. They can write letters too. Why aren't you hearing these people out? Are you going to let them die like Helin? They let Helin die for a simple demand. I believe the calls about our death fasting friends should be so intense that they have to hear them. We want videos from the people who knows our friends on death fast. We want people to show that our demands are legitimate and our struggle is honourable and right."

	 

	THE DEMANDS OF THE LAWYERS

	 

	Eight lawyers, who are members of the ÇHD, announced that they started a hunger strike on February 5 for the government to meet Grup Yorum's demands and for Mustafa Koçak's demand to a fair trial to be heard. Among the demands of lawyers are the fulfillment of the requirements of the right to defense and a fair trial. On April 5, Ebru Timtik turned her hunger strike to a death fast, on the 94th day of her hunger strike and Aytaç Ünsal turned his hunger strike to a death fast on his 63rd day.

	 

	 

	MA / Diren Yurtsever