Justice Ministry to discuss situation of Aysel Tuğluk, ill prisoners

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The government is working for a new legal arrangement for ill prisoners, Minister of Justice Bekir Bozdağ has said.

"What can we do about ill arrestees and convicts? Right now, our colleagues are working on it. There are suggestions. We see the need for a new arrangement," Bozdağ told NTV today (September 15).

The ministry will tomorrow discuss the situation of Aysel Tuğluk, a former Kurdish MP who is kept in prison despite being diagnosed with dementia, said Bozdağ.

Since the diagnosis in March last year, Tuğluk's situation has gradually worsened, according to her lawyers and her fellow inmates, and medical reports say that she cannot take care of herself.

Ill prisoners' right to healthcare is among the most violated rights of prisoners in Türkiye, rights groups say.

There are currently more than 1,500 ill prisoners behind bars in Türkiye, with 659 of them seriously ill, according to the Human Rights Association (İHD).

At least 50 ill prisoners have died in prison or shortly after their release since the start of the year, according to the Freedom for Lawyers Association (ÖHD). (RT/VK)