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Corona disaster threatens behind thick walls of Turkish prisons

Gergerlioglu repeatedly asked parliamentary questions about prison conditions. “We get very limited information from the Justice Department about what’s going on. I get the impression they want to hide the real situation.”

The coronavirus probably entered through infected prison guards. Prisoners have not been allowed visitors since the start of the pandemic.

Some 90,000 prisoners were released early in April on the basis of a swiftly passed amnesty law. Prisoners in high-risk groups in particular were allowed to go home. But those detained, for example, for terrorism-related matters were excluded from amnesty. These are also what critics call political prisoners. Journalists, lawyers, activists and politicians.

In recent years, Turkey has quickly picked up political opponents. Especially after the failed coup in 2016, many people disappeared behind bars because they were “propaganda for terror organizations” like the banned Kurdish PKK and the Gülen movement. Some are still on remand.

Hundreds of thousands of prisoners

The prison population has grown considerably since then. In total, 300,000 people are detained in Turkey, an estimated 50,000 of whom are suspected of terrorism.

“The terrorism charge is an excellent tool for the Turkish state to silence critics,” said Ceren Uysal of the Lawyers for Lawyers organization, which stands up for imprisoned lawyers. “We have journalist terrorists, academic terrorists, lawyer terrorists. Anyone who opposes state policy risks being convicted of terrorism.”

Like other Turkish and international human rights organizations, Uysal calls on those political prisoners to be given an amnesty and released. “In the first place, these people do not belong in prison. Now they are at extra risk with the coronavirus outbreak. We ask for their immediate release.”

Furious

The worried father Ekrem’s son has been sentenced to life imprisonment. He has been convicted of participating in the failed 2016 coup.

Ekrem says that his son knew nothing about the coup and that he simply followed orders. Families of these students have been fighting for their innocence for years. Ekrem is furious that the amnesty did not apply to him. “They have released criminals and mafia people. And my son, who has not been proven guilty, must remain.”

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