Peoples’ Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party MP Özgül Saki yesterday visited LGBTI+ rights advocates and journalists detained in Ankara’s Sincan Prison.
Eighty-two people were detained following countrywide raids on LGBTI+ rights groups' offices, homes and venues in operations dubbed as "My Family Is Safe."
LGBTI+ groups are facing "obscenity" charges in the investigation.
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She said those held in the L4 prison had faced discrimination, torture and ill-treatment during their first 48 hours in custody.
“Our struggle will of course continue to ensure that those responsible are prosecuted for the discrimination, torture and ill-treatment amounting to hate crimes that our friends now held in the L4 ward were subjected to during the first 48 hours,” Saki said.
She also cited hygiene and access to health care among the detainees’ main concerns, adding that inadequate access to health care and delays are also among the problems.
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Sleeping on the floor
Saki said detainees held in Sincan Women’s Prison had also reported inadequate accommodation. “The most important issue is that, except for one person, our friends here are still being forced to sleep on the concrete floor,” she noted.
Saki quoted the detainees as saying their most urgent needs were “a bunk bed, a locker and a smoke-free room.”
“At a time when no section of society is safe, this operation, in which Akın Gürlek says ‘my family is safe’ while targeting LGBTI+ associations and solidarity, is in fact a hate crime under all human rights legislation,” she said, criticizing the investigation.
“All our friends must be released immediately, without waiting for a detention review,” Saki added. “Solidarity is our strength, freedom is our goal!” (VK)
