Women lawyers visit ill Kurdish politician Aysel Tuğluk, criticize bars for silence
Photo: MA
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Women lawyers have visited Kurdish politician and lawyer Aysel Tuğluk, who has been diagnosed with dementia, at Kandıra Prison in Kocaeli, northwestern Turkey, Mesopotamia Agency (MA) reported.
After the visit, they spoke to reporters and read out a statement in front of the prison. Human Rights Association (İHD) Co-Chair Eren Keskin and Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) deputy Züleyha Gülüm were among them.
"Her illness has progressed"
Speaking about Tuğluk's health, lawyer Leyla Han Tüzel said her disease progressed, but her morale is high because of women's struggle for her.
Reading out a statement, lawyer Eylem Arzu Kayaoğlu said Tuğluk was referred to the Forensic Medicine Institution (ATK) to determine whether she can make defense in the Kobanî trial. The ATK, however, did not make an assessment on the issue requested by the court but stated that Tuğluk had "full criminal responsibility" in 2014, when the events subject to trial took place, she added.
"Only two pages of the report included the medical findings of ATK, but the opinion of the neurologist, who is the most important physician to determine the course of the disease and the stage it has reached, was not taken.
"We are aware that the sole purpose of the ATK's extensive coverage of accusations like public prosecutors in its report is to conceal the actual health condition of Aysel Tuğluk by turning the public's attention to criminal allegations. The report in question is also striking in terms of showing the biased political structure of the ATK."
Silence of the bar associations
"All administrative and judicial authorities, especially the Ministry of Justice, who do not do what is necessary while Tuğluk's health condition is evident, are responsible.
"In the face of Aysel Tuğluk's disease, the İstanbul Bar Association, which she is affiliated with, and the Union of Turkish Bar Associations, are in a great silence.
"We do not accept the fact that Bar Associations, whose main duty is to ensure and supervise the protection of human rights, remain silent about ill prisoners and deaths in prisons
"We invite 82 provincial bar associations, especially the İstanbul Bar Association, and the Union of Turkish Bar Associations, to defend the right to life of Aysel Tuğluk and all ill prisoners.
"We once again call on all the authorities who took part in this unlawful process ... to act in accordance with the law, science and conscience.
"Tuğluk needs to be freed as soon as possible so that her treatment can continue in a manner worthy of human dignity."
What happened?On December 29, 2016, when she was the Vice Co-Chair of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), Kurdish politician Aysel Tuğluk was arrested along with seven other politicians from the Democratic Regions Party (DBP) and the Democratic Society Congress (DTK). The indictment filed against Tuğluk, who was the DTK Co-Chair till September 2014, brought her statements to the press as well as the funerals that she attended as criminal evidence against the politician. On March 16, 2018, the Ankara 17th Heavy Penal Court sentenced Aysel Tuğluk to 8 years in prison as per the Anti-Terror Law (TMK) no. 3713. Increasing this prison term by half, the court then gave a 12-year prison sentence to the politician. Lastly, it has decreased this prison sentence by one sixth and ruled that she shall be sentenced to 10 years in prison. As Aysel Tuğluk's appeal to the Ankara Regional Court of Justice was rejected, her file was sent to the Court of Cassation. Her mother's funeralAysel Tuğluk's mother Hatun Tuğluk lost her life in 2017. Upon her last will, her deceased body was brought to the İncek Cemetery in Ankara. Aysel Tuğluk left prison by permission and her mother was laid to rest; shortly afterwards, a group of 5-6 people gathered to protest the funeral. The ones who attended the funeral said that this number gradually increased and they tried to attack the grave. As the attacks continued, the deceased body of Hatun Tuğluk had to be removed from the ground and laid to rest somewhere else. One of the people who attacked the funeral turned out to have a picture with Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu at the police station. Health problemsAysel Tuğluk's elder brother Alaattin Tuğluk said that his sister had a memory loss after their mother's passing: My sister didn't look fine. She asks the same question 3-4 times. She doesn't remember some things. For instance, when she wants to ask about someone from the family, she says, 'Who was that, who?' They are close people, it is impossible for her to not know them. I am concerned that this will come to an irreversible point and that we will lose my sister... I want treatment before it is too late. Let another committee examine her and give a decision accordingly. She is given 1-2 medications now. It is not enough. She will go [to jail] after her treatment ends. About Aysel TuğlukPolitician and lawyer. She was the founding member and Co-Chair of the Democratic Society Party (DTP) and elected Diyarbakır MP in 2007-2009. She became the Van MP of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) in 2011-2015. She served as the Vice Co-Chair of the HDP responsible for Law and Human Rights. Aysel Tuğluk was also a member of the Society and Law Studies Foundation Executive Board, a member of the Human Rights Association (İHD) and the founder of the Patriotic Women's Association. Born in Elazığ in 1965, she graduated from the Faculty of Law of İstanbul University and worked as a self-employed lawyer. |
(EMK/VK)