From Zeynep Altıok to Erdoğan: There are Hundreds of Ill Prisoners

Click to read the article in Turkish

President and ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) Chair Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has granted commutation to Ahmet Turan Kılıç, who was convicted in the lawsuit filed into Sivas Massacre, which claimed the lives of 35 people in Madımak Hotel in 1993.

Ahmet Turan Kılıç, who is now 86 years old, was first given capital punishment for the incident where 35 people, including writers and artists, were burned to death. After capital punishment was abolished in Turkey, his punishment was turned into aggravated life sentence.

With the commutation granted by President and AKP Chair Erdoğan, Kılıç will not serve rest of his prison term behind bars.

As per the decree published on the Official Gazette today (January 31), the prison sentence of Ahmet Turan Kılıç has been removed on the ground that Forensic Medical Institute has issued a report documenting that he has health problems.

Altıok: They are after saving the defendants

Poet Metin Altıok was also among the 35 people who were killed in Madımak Hotel. His daughter Zeynep Altıok has spoken to bianet after the decree was published on the Official Gazette. Reminding us that the case dropped in March 2012 as statutory limitations were violated, Altıok has said that there have been efforts to release the perpetrators since then.

Indicating that pro-government newspapers have long been campaigning for Kılıç's release, Altıok has stated, "Not taking a single step to establish justice in the country, the state is now seeking after saving the defendants."

Zeynep Altıok has continued as follows:

'My Parliamentary questions remained unanswered'

"While I was a Member of the Parliament, I submitted Parliamentary questions, asking how many perpetrators there were and how many of them were released. Not only were these questions left unanswered, but they were also returned to me by the Speaker's Office on the ground that they were 'personal and long.' Because there is a toll of convicts that they keep private.

"We do not know how many perpetrators served or did not serve their entire prison terms, we cannot reach this information.

"Referred to forensic medicine institute, saying he was an ill inmate, Kılıç was not given a report confirming that he was an ill prisoner. An investigation was filed against the ones who examined Kılıç after that. It was the last news that we could read on the news about it.

"I think the President has exercised his personal authority, as no results could be obtained from the forensic medicine institute.

"But, is Kılıç the only person released till now? No, he is not. We know that there are others who were released with commutation.

'They did not make efforts to serve justice'

"It has now turned into a situation where the defendants have become the aggrieved party and the victims are not taken seriously. They have never made any efforts to ensure that justice is served.

"There are hundreds of ill prisoners in this country and no one has answered their numerous applications. While the system is not working for dozens of ill, old and victim prisoners such as Kuddusi Okkır, who was condemned to death despite his illness, and Selahattin Demirtaş, who was not referred to a hospital though he was in a life-critical situation, it is protecting some.

'Remember other ill inmates'

"Remember the people condemned to death like that. Remember how the illness of Selahattin Demirtaş was kept a secret.

"I am just wondering this: While there are so many ill arrestees and convicts, with what personal relationship was he granted commutation? Can Erdoğan do the same thing for all ill prisoners?"

About Sivas Massacre and its judicial process

26 years ago on July 2, 37 people, including 33 artists and writers, 2 hotels workers and 2 attackers, lost their lives in the fire started at Madımak Hotel in Sivas. 33 intellectuals were in Sivas to attend the Pir Sultan Abdal festivities. 65 people, 14 of whom were police officers, got wounded in the fire.

124 people were arrested in relation with the fire. In the seven-year trial process, 33 people sentenced to death and 85 people were given prison sentences of 2 to 15 years. 37 defendants were acquitted. The death sentences of 33 people were converted to aggravated life sentences.

On March 13, 2012, the Ankara 11th Heavy Penal Court dropped the charges of the Sivas Massacre trial in line with the prosecutor's demand to apply the statute of limitations to the case.

As the 9th Penal Chamber of the Supreme Court of Appeals upheld the verdict on violation of statute of limitations, attorney Şenal Sarıhan took the case to the Constitutional Court in 2014. However, the court has not yet announced its judgement. In response, lawyer Sarıhan appealed to the Constitutional Court regarding the long judicial processes.

There are 1,333 ill prisoners in Turkey

The Human Rights Association (İHD) released a statement about the number of ill prisoners across Turkey in April 2019. According to the statement of the association, there are 1,333 ill inmates in prisons across Turkey. 457 of these prisoners are seriously ill. Also, from the beginning of 2017 to August 2019, 39 ill inmates lost their lives behind bars. (HA/SD)