Makbule Özer, an 81-year-old Kurdish woman, was rearrested on Monday after being declared fit for imprisonment by Turkey’s forensic authority, despite suffering from multiple health issues. This decision comes after her family’s repeated appeals for house arrest based on her health.
Makbule Özer was initially detained in May 2022 for allegedly aiding a terrorist organisation and was temporarily released in September of the same year due to her health. The latest forensic assessment, issued on Friday, reversed a previous decision which had deferred her sentence, leading to her rearrest in Van (Wan).
Her son, Medeni Özer, expressed distrust in the forensic authority’s fairness and hoped for a conversion of her sentence to house arrest. “We don’t trust the Council of Forensic Medicine to make a fair decision. Our hope is for house arrest,” he stated.
The case highlights issues within Turkey’s handling of elderly and sick prisoners, with human rights organisations criticising the conditions and the stringent requirements for medical parole or house arrest. Despite legal provisions for leniency towards elderly or ill prisoners, obtaining necessary medical assessments can be challenging, particularly for politically sensitive cases, often leaving families to battle through legal avenues for their relatives’ release.