Van Prison Disobeys Justice Ministry Order

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Talat Şanlı, a convict in the southeastern province of Van, has sent a letter to bianet, telling about how the prison administration prevented him from receiving his diet meal despite a doctor's verdict and an order by the Ministry of Justice.

Saying that they are between hunger and sickness in the current situation, Şanlı wrote the following in his letter:

"I and convict Mecit Şahinkaya should be given diet meal upon a doctor's verdict. But the meal is deficient and insufficient most of the time. In some days, we are not given diet meal at all. We are given legumes even though eating legumes are strictly banned for us upon the doctor report.

"Both I and Şahinkaya repeatedly wrote to the Ministry of Justice on this topic. Although the Ministry requested the meals should be improved, this is not done and we are forced to choose between being hungry and the disease to progress."

There are 1,333 ill inmates in prisons, with the condition of the 457 of them being serious, according to a report by the Human Rights Association (İHD).

Prosecutor ruled for non-prosecution

In his letter, Şanlı also told that he made an application to the prosecutor's office, it ruled for non-prosecution.

He also said that a letter sent from the prison was censored because he criticized the regulatory retail points, which the government established before the March 31 elections to tackle the rising food prices.

"The prison administration, upon its verdict No. 2019/149, ruled that the parts that criticize the government and the queues in the regulatory retail points in the letter Tamer Korkmaz sent to Lütfiye Türkoğlu shall be scribbled."

Judge of execution rejected the Ministry's petition

Şanlı said in the letter that their petitions on the rights violations are ignored.

"The Office of the Judge of Execution, who should have examined the complaints in the petitions after the reports we prepared on the rights violations were sent to the Judge by the Ministry of Justice, ruled for rejection without conducting an examination. The appeal we made against this verdict was rejected upon the verdict No. 2019/52 by the Van 1st Heavy Penal Court." (AS/VK)