Ill prisoner not referred to hospital as he rejects ‘mouth search’

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Held in the Adana Kürkçüler Prison in southern Turkey, Fatih Özgür Aydın has Crohn's disease*. However, as he objects to the "mouth search", a form of body cavity search conducted during referrals to hospital, he cannot receive treatment for his chronic disease.

Speaking to bianet, his mother Emine Aydın says that such a practice is wrong especially amid the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

She notes that her son also has a cardiac disease, explaining that the doctor at the infirmary of the prison has diagnosed him with embolism and a stroke risk. Aydın also suffers from high blood pressure.

According to the Human Rights Association (İHD)'s list of ill prisoners dated March 2021, there are at least 1,605 ill prisoners, including 604 seriously ill prisoners, in Turkey. In 2021, at least 59 ill prisoners, seven of whom shortly after the suspension of the execution of their sentences, lost their lives.

'He has completed his sentence while arrested'

Fatih Özgür Aydın was convicted of "membership of an [illegal / terrorist] organization" by the local court. With his case file pending before the Court of Cassation, Aydın is still an arrestee, not a convict. Another prison sentence over a funeral he attended has also not been upheld.

His mother underlines that the time Aydın has already served the time that he may be expected to serve as a convict:

"My son is 40 years old. He has been arrested for 7 years. In the first three years, he was in the Edirne, Tekirdağ and Kandıra prisons. Lastly, he has been in the Kürkçüler Prison for the past 4 years. He has served longer than the prison sentence handed down for organization membership. And that sentence has not yet been upheld by the Court of Cassation.

"He has been unable to be referred to the hospital for a long time because prisoners undergo three separate searches while being referred to the hospital and the last search is the search of the mouth. As my son does not accept it, he is not taken out of the prison.

He does not accept this practice as he finds it against human dignity and because it is the pandemic period and he has a chronic disease. Therefore, he is not taken to the hospital.

Criminal complaint

Mother Emine Aydın says that they have filed a criminal complaint against both the prison administration and the gendarmerie officers who carry out this search. While the criminal complaints have remained inconclusive, Emine Aydın's requests for talking to the gendarmerie officers maintaining security at the penal institution have also been rejected.

Mother Aydın says that her son is also given a ban on receiving visitors as a disciplinary punishment for protesting these practices. She raises concerns that she can receive information about the condition of her son only during their 10-minute phone calls in a week.

* Crohn's disease: Crohn's disease is a type of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). It causes inflammation of one's digestive tract, which can lead to abdominal pain, severe diarrhea, fatigue, weight loss and malnutrition. Inflammation caused by Crohn's disease can involve different areas of the digestive tract in different people. This inflammation often spreads into the deeper layers of the bowel. Crohn's disease can be both painful and debilitating, and sometimes may lead to life-threatening complications. The disease cannot be fully treated and requires a surgical operation most of the time. The effects of the disease may also pave the way for other diseases.

(AS/SD)