Tayfun Kahraman, a city planner and academic serving an 18-year sentence in connection with the 2013 Gezi Park protests, is facing worsening health conditions due to delays in treatment for multiple sclerosis (MS), his spouse has said.
Meriç Demir-Kahraman, in a written statement after visiting her husband at İstanbul's Marmara Prison, said he had recently been transferred to İstanbul University Cerrahpaşa Hospital for medical checks. However, she expressed concern that Kahraman would not be able to undergo a detailed brain and spinal MRI until September, despite his need for close monitoring.
“It’s not just that his medical care is being delayed, prison conditions are also accelerating the progression of his illness,” wrote Demir-Kahraman, noting that MS patients require frequent exposure to sunlight for vitamin D synthesis, which is not possible in prison.
“Despite all external supplements, his vitamin D levels remain below what doctors recommend,” she wrote. “This is all documented in official medical reports.”
"We’ve experienced many sudden MS attacks during our 11 years of marriage. He’s lost the ability to walk, speak, or write during some of them. Now, we are told to wait three more months for his MRI,” she wrote.
Background
Kahraman was among eight people convicted in Apr 2022 in the Gezi Park retrial, which was held after the overturning of the 2020 acquittal of the defendants.
An İstanbul court sentenced Kahraman and seven others, including philantropist Osman Kavala, for “attempting to overthrow the government,” concluding that they had organized and financed the anti-government protests attended by millions of people across the country. Kavala received an aggravated life sentence, while Kahraman and five others were each sentenced to 18 years.
The Court of Cassation in Sep 2023 overturned the sentences of three defendants—Mücella Yapıcı, Ali Hakan Altınay, and Yiğit Ali Ekmekçi—who were acquitted in February this year after a retrial. Kahraman and four others remain in prison.
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Who are the eight convicts of the Gezi case?
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