Stating that Elif Vural Yas, who has been held captive for 31 years, was prevented from being arbitrarily released three times, lawyer Seher Dursun said, “Prisoner faces arbitrary execution postponements, lack of access to health services and serious human rights violations. Age and all political prisoners must be released immediately. Especially the situation of sick prisoners is getting worse day by day; They live face to face with death”, she said.
Human rights violations are increasing daily in prisons, and the restrictions introduced by the enforcement regulations enacted during the pandemic have exacerbated existing problems and led to new human rights violations. Prisoners’ rights to release are being arbitrarily violated. The “Regulation on Observation and Classification Centers and the Assessment of Prisoners,” prepared by the Ministry of Justice, concerning “the observation and classification of prisoners in prisons, their distribution to institutions appropriate to their circumstances, and good conduct assessments based on the rehabilitation activities applied and their attitudes and behavior,” entered into force on January 1, 2021. With this regulation, the “Administration and Observation Board” established in prisons is preventing the release of prisoners with the reports it prepares on whether they are “well-behaved” or not.
Elif Vural Yas, who has been unjustly detained for 31 years at Bakirkoy Closed Women’s Prison, has had her release postponed three times for arbitrary reasons. Elif Vural Yas, who has been detained for 31 years, is a heart patient and her health is deteriorating due to prison conditions. It is even known that she suffered a crisis in her cell at Bakirkoy Closed Women’s Prison. Although heart disease is a serious illness that requires regular treatment and constant monitoring, Yas’s right to health and treatment is frequently denied. Yas’s lawyer, Seher Dursun, and her visitor, Fatma Yildirim, talked about both the postponement of her release and Yas’s health condition.
‘Her execution was postponed 3 times for arbitrary reasons’
Attorney Seher Dursun stated that prisoner Elif Vural Yas has a heart condition and that her right to treatment has been denied. Dursun said, “Elif Vural Yas is a political prisoner who has been detained for 31 years and whose release has been postponed three times, each time for six months. Yas is being held at the Bakirkoy Women’s Closed Prison and has a heart condition. In February, she was hospitalized due to her illness but was sent back to prison without a full diagnosis. Her treatment cannot be fully carried out under prison conditions. Yas faces arbitrary postponements of her sentence, inadequate access to health services, and various human rights violations. The decisions of the Administration and Supervision Board, which have postponed her execution three times, violate Yas’s freedom and right to life. According to the court ruling, she should have been released long ago. The Administration and Supervision Board is depriving her of her freedom with its arbitrary decisions.”
A policy of regret was imposed
Emphasizing that the release of political prisoners were postponed on arbitrary grounds, Dursun postponed them on completely arbitrary grounds such as “Yas’s release, ‘regret’ imposition and ‘stay in organized wards’. The Administration and Observation Board reasoned that Yas did not intend to move to an independent ward (the ward of prisoners who left their political organisations). Elif Yas graduated from university during her stay in prison; she also graduated from the departments of International Relations and Sociology. While political prisoners continue to be held in prisons because they do not agree with the government, this situation is also an intimidation given to society. The gowernment thus thinks that it can scare and intimidate people. Yas is a heart patient and her health is deteriorating under prison conditions. She cannot exercise his right to treatment and cannot benefit sufficiently from health services”, she said.
‘Seriously ill prisoners and political prisoners should be released’
Lawyer Dursun underlined that the release postponements, rights violations in prisons and the problems experienced by seriously ill prisoners should end as soon as possible. Dursun, “Yas and other political prisoners need to be released as soon as possible. Because release postponements and rights violations violate the right to life and freedom of revolutionaries. In particular, the plight of sick prisoners is getting worse every day; they are living face to face with death Yas, who has been detained for 31 years and whose execution has been postponed three times, is seriously ill with heart and his health is deteriorating under prison conditions. The decisions of the Administration and Observation Board are indeed arbitrary and unlawful. Socialist organizations, revolutionaries, human rights defenders, and indeed the entire society must fight for the release of all political prisoners and Yas; they must strive for the life and freedom of Yas and other political prisoners. I would also like to point out that the objections we made for Elif Yas were rejected by the execution judge and the high criminal court in unjustified forms. This reveals how uncontrolled and arbitrary legal applications are rendered meaningless”, he stated.
‘While political prisoners are not free, we are not free either’
Fatma Yildirim, the visitor of prisoner Elif Yas, emphasized that the release of political prisoners were systematically postponed. Yildirim, “After the pandemic, release postponements became so routine that society got used to it. Under normal circumstances, Elif should be released, but the Administration and Observation Board extends this arbitrarily. The reasons for these extensions are the prisoners ‘You read too many books, you bought too few books’, ‘You dressed like this’, ‘You never met with the administration’, ‘You went to the infirmary a lot’, ‘You never went to the infirmary’, ‘Why are you so cheerful, why are you full of energy?’, and the demoralized one is given completely ridiculous justifications such as ‘You never smile, you are problematic’ and releases are postponed with these excuses. Elif is also a heart patient. He has heart rheumatism. Elif never used her illness for an excuse. However, she had a crisis in the ward. Administration,they got scared and took her to the emergency room. Doctors do not report it on purpose. Sometimes cardiology gives his medications, sometimes not. The postponements of release should be lifted as soon as possible. All revolutionary prisoners must be liberated. The fact that even one revolutionary prisoner lies in dungeons means that we are not free outside. ”We call on the public to fight for the liberation of all prisoners, he said.
The reasons for postponing the release of a prisoner may include the following:
You used too much water
You read a lot of books
You reproached
You danced halay
You sang
You didn’t take the ALES exam
You didn’t break away from your friends
You don’t regret it either…
“Will you join the organization when you leave?”
“Why don’t you stay in the independent ward?”
“Why are you going on a hunger strike?”
“You never met with the administration”
“You went to the infirmary a lot”
“You never went to the infirmary”
“Why are you so cheerful, why are you full of energy?”
