Death Fasting Inmate Koçak: Living is Very Beautiful, I Don’t Want to Die

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Sentenced to aggravated life imprisonment, inmate Mustafa Koçak has been on a death fast for 252 days for his right to a fair trial. The Chief Public Prosecutor's Office of the Court of Cassation has issued a letter of notification on the file where he has been given an aggravated life sentence.

The Prosecutor's Office has demanded that his prison sentence for "attempting to overthrow the Constitutional Order" be upheld.

In its letter of notification, the Prosecutor's Office has claimed that the evidence was obtained in a lawful manner, discussed in accordance with the due process of law and "the conscientious conviction is based on clear, consistent and non-contradictory data."

Mustafa Koçak was sentenced to aggravated life imprisonment solely based on the statements of witnesses.

Evidence: He told me at a kebab house

CLICK - Court Rules for Aggravated Life Sentence by 'Conscientious Conviction'

B.E., one of the witnesses in the file, testified that "while they were eating and having a chat at a meatball restaurant and as they were talking about the actions and strategies of the organization, he (Mustafa Koçak) himself said that he obtained the gun himself ."

After he went abroad, the other witness C.Y. indicated that his testimony was not correct and he testified under threat. However, the court did not take this confession into consideration.

Prosecutor's Office: Evidence is lawful

In the letter or notification signed by Court of Cassation's Vice Deputy Chief Public Prosecutor Erdoğan Bayrakdar, a single-paragraph opinion has been expressed without presenting any other justification:

"It has been understood that the procedural proceedings during the judicial process were undertaken in a lawful manner; all evidence based on which the judgement was given was lawfully obtained and all allegations and defenses were thoroughly presented in a way to ensure inspection of appeals and they were discussed without their essences being changed; the conscientious conviction was based on clear, consistent and non-contradictory data; the actions were defined correctly and conformed to the type of crime foreseen by the law and the enforcements were implemented by being personalized within a legal context..."

Accordingly, the Office has concluded that "the reasons put forward by the defendants and their defending lawyers were not found proper" and demanded that "the request for appeals be rejected with prejudice as per the Article 302/1 of the Law on Criminal Procedure (CMK)."

Koçak: Keep me alive, I want to live

In a phone call with his family on March 8, Mustafa Koçak could barely speak. He said the following in the voice record:

"I have learnt a lot in 250 days, I know both the hardships and sorrows of resistance, I know its problems as well. But I also know the honor of resistance. Living is very beautiful, I do not want to die... Maybe, I cannot even come and pick up the phone next week, because I do not know what will happen tomorrow. Keep me alive, I want to live.

"I end every letter and phone call with 'Goodbye', because maybe I will not have another chance. Don't forget me, I love you all a lot. I want this injustice to be eliminated as soon as possible, we don't want to die, keep us alive."

His sister Mine Koçak has said that she met Mustafa Koçak in open visit and he now weighs 33 kilograms. As he can no longer walk, he is now in a wheelchair and cannot go to toilet on his own:

"He cannot meet his demands on his own without having somebody on his side helping him, his friends carry him downstairs and help him to relieve himself. He also has wounds caused by constantly lying. There are swellings, pins and needles and black-and-purple marks from his feet to his groin. He has total hearing loss in his left ear, he can hardly hear with his right ear. There is a general sensation loss on the left, on legs, arms and body. There are tears and bleeding on his both hands. He also has severe pain and muscle cramps. He cannot sleep due to pain..." (AS/SD)