Peoples’ Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party spokesperson Ayşegül Doğan has called for the release of seriously ill Kurdish prisoner Mehmet Sait Yıldırım, whose conditional release has been postponed twice.
Doğan applied yesterday to Parliament’s Human Rights Inquiry Committee and submitted a parliamentary question for the justice minister. She asked authorities to examine Yıldırım’s health and the enforcement of his sentence in relation to his rights to life and health.
Yıldırım became eligible for conditional release on Feb 27, 2025. His release was first postponed to Dec 27, 2025, and then to Aug 25, 2026, with the prison adminstration concluding that he lacked "good behavior" and "repentance" in both decisions.
Severe health problems
Doğan said Yıldırım has heart disease, hypertension, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, arteriosclerosis, a cervical disc hernia and lung problems. She said he has difficulty carrying out daily activities, struggles to speak and cannot access regular treatment in prison.
In early July, Yıldırım was urgently taken to a hospital after a blood clot developed in his right eye. He was forced to undergo the examination while handcuffed, according to Doğan’s submission. His vision problems have continued for weeks, but follow-up examinations have not been conducted.
Doğan asked whether Yıldırım’s release would be reconsidered and whether an investigation had been opened into the reported treatment during his hospital transfer.
She also requested figures on prisoners whose releases have been postponed in recent years, including how many were seriously ill. She asked whether the government would review the current practices of prison administrations.
Delaying releases after prisoners become eligible for conditional release has become a widespread practice in recent years, particularly for political prisoners.
Release of 28 prisoners from 13 prisons delayed
Yıldırım had criticized the prison's previous decision to delay his release in an interview with bianet through his lawyers in December.
“Come out and say openly, ‘We have executed them,’” he said in the interview, addressing the authorities. “Keeping people in prison for years and then continuing to detain them on unclear grounds when their release date arrives is not the result of law, but arbitrariness.”
Release of Mehmet Sait Yıldırım blocked for second time after 30 years in prison
Background
Yıldırım was detained in 1993 on allegations of being a member of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militanr group and sentenced to life imprisonment in 1995. He has been imprisoned for about 33 years.
During the failed Kurdish peace process between 2013 and 2015, he was among five prisoners selected at the request of PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan to form a "secretariat" to be involved in the process.
He spent nine days on İmralı Island, where Öcalan is held, before being transferred to another prison because of health problems. He later described the experience in his book “Nine Days on İmralı.”
Yıldırım is currently held at İzmir Kırıklar No. 1 F-Type Prison.
(AEK/VK)
