Former co-mayor Narin had a heart attack in prison

* Photo: MA

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Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Diyarbakır MP İmam Taşçıer has submitted a Parliamentary question about the condition of Seyit Narin, a former Co-Mayor of Sur district in Turkey's Kurdish-majority southeastern province of Diyarbakır who had a heart attack in prison.

Narin has been arrested in the Rize Kalkandere Type L Prison in the Black Sea region for 5 years, 5 months. He had a heart attack on January 4, 2022 and was taken to the Rize Training and Research Hospital. Treated in intensive care, he has been taken to the prison again.

In the Parliamentary question of HDP's Taşçıer, it has been indicated that the Narin family made an application and requested that the ill prisoner be transferred to Diyarbakır, but this request has been rejected.

Speaking to Mezopotamya Agency (MA), the relatives of Narin have said, "We are concerned. If he had been here, we would have immediately gone to him, we could have reached him easily. But he is very far away from us. We submit petitions requesting his transfer to somewhere closer. But they are rejected every time. We are worried about his life."

Why is the request for transfer rejected?

Accordingly, HDP's İmam Taşçıer has asked the following questions to Justice Minister Abdulhamit Gül about the issue:

• Why is the execution of ill prisoners' sentences not deferred?
• Why are ill prisoners held in prisons far away from their families?
• What works do you undertake to protect ill prisoners' right to healthcare and life?
• What is the legal ground for rejecting their requests even though Seyit Narin's family and himself made several requests for his transfer to Diyarbakır, the province where his family lives?"

CLICK - At least 59 ill prisoners lost their lives in Turkey in a year

According to the ill prisoners' list released by the Human Rights Association (İHD) in March 2021, there are 1,605 ill prisoners in Turkey and 604 of them are in a serious condition. Throughout 2021, at least 59 ill prisoners, seven of whom shortly after the execution of their prison sentences had been deferred, lost their lives in the country. (AS/SD)