Death fasting lawyer Aytaç Ünsal: They eat doner kebab at my door

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Hospitalized in Kanuni Sultan Süleyman Hospital in İstanbul, arrested lawyer Aytaç Ünsal has been on a death fast for his right to a fair trial for 199 days. Sending a letter from the hospital's prisoner ward, he says that security officers eat at his door, with the smell of the food filling his ward.

Neither does his room have a ventilation system, nor is he allowed to leave his room to get fresh air. "Our hunger for justice is so great that it is full of sorrows, longings, rage and love felt by the people for years," he says about the issue, adding, "The belly of this hunger is full even for feasts and no one can satisy the hunger for justice by force!"

'They aim to break one's will'

In his letter, Ünsal says that what is done to him now is similar to what happened in mass death fasts in Palestine prisons in 2017:

"You must all remember that famous picture. A couple of years ago, Palestinian prisoners were on a death fast for their rights in Israel prisons. And the Israeli state responded to this resistance in a way that would be expected from it. Barbecues were brought in front of the prison, meat was cooked and the smoke was directed towards the prison cells.

"It is a method of torture. Its aim is to break the will of one's addressee. The Israeli state approaches problems with such methods because it is an enemy of the Palestinian people.

"Today, we are also isolated in hospital cells with various methods of torture. We are faced with quite similar practices. Because we are ruled by a state which is an enemy of its own people.

'An overwhelming smell of oil filled the room'

"I have been a captive in a hospital cell under surveillance 7/24, during the day and at night... I can - of course - see the ones who watch me from the window through which they watch me.

"On August 17, 2020, at around 11.30 p.m., I was preparing to sleep. I was about pace back and forth in the cell for the last time. Then, all of a sudden, an overwhelming smell of oil filled the room. I started hearing voices. When I stood up and looked around to understand what was going on, I saw two soldiers sitting behind the glass and eating doner kebab or meatball sandwiches while looking me in the eye.

"Right behind them, at a distance where I could see easily, there were 5-6 soldiers, including a senior one, eating doner or meatball sandwiches.

"I stood up and started walking. I look at their faces. There is normally a blind on the window where they watch me. They noticed me, but did not feel the need to close the window blind. They went on what they were doing as if nothing happened. It continued for minutes and minutes.

'They discussed how much meatball to buy'

"A night later, on August 18, something similar happened at around the same time. I had just gone to bed. The gendarmerie discussed for minutes how many kilograms of çiğ köfte [a traditional raw meatball dish] would be enough for them. Then, they all gathered at the door and ate it.

"This behavior of the gendarmerie at two nights might be an intentional organization or happened by itself. It is not that important. We cannot talk about an Anatolian culture in these practices. Neither can we talk about the values of the people there. Because in this geography, no matter if you are hungry or not, it is regarded as shameful if the smell of what you eat reaches another person. People do not find it appropriate if you eat something with people around. Let alone eating something while looking a hungry person in the eye, even his hunger makes you uneasy. It is how the society is shaped.

"Two different times... On the one side Israel and our country on the other... The same practices, the same weaknesses, the same desperation of two states that are enemies of the people... And, on the other side, there are the peoples of Palestine and Turkey. The Palestinians longing for their homeland for years and we, the people of Anatolia, longing for justice for decades. With the same righteousness, the same belief, the same resistance..."

What happened?

On a death fast in prison for their right to a fair trial, arrested lawyers Ebru Timtik and Aytaç Ünsal were not released despite a Forensic Medical report indicating that "they were not in a state to stay in prison." Shortly afterwards, they were taken to two separate hospitals on July 30.

An objection was lodged against the ruling of the İstanbul 37th Heavy Penal Court, which ruled that death-fasting lawyers should remain behind bars.

However, the court rejected this objection, saying: "Considering that the ruling of continued arrest given for defendant Ebru Timtik and defendant Aytaç Ünsal on July 30, 2020 is in compliance with due process and the law, there is nothing to rectify in the ruling, the objection has been rejected..."

The objection to the rejection has been rejected as well.

On a death fast for 230 days as of today (August 20), Ebru Timtik is currently held in Dr. Sadi Konuk Training and Research Hospital in İstanbul. Death fasting for 199 days, Aytaç Ünsal is in Kanuni Sultan Süleyman Training and Research Hospital, which is also in İstanbul. (AS/SD)