As human rights organisations and lawyers demand his immediate release Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) MP Meral Danış Beştaş met with Özkan in Diyarbakır Prison.
After the meeting with a Kurdish MP in Diyarbakir prison, seriously ill-prisoner, Mehmet Emin Özkan was hospitalised again on Monday due to his serious health problems, MA reports.
This is the seventh time that the seriously-ill elderly prisoner has been hospitalised since 17 May.
Footage of 83-year-old seriously ill elderly prisoner filmed while he was being taken to hospital on 25 May in handcuffs from Diyarbakır Prison caused outrage and emotional debate about the treatment of ill-prisoners in Turkey once again.
Stating after the meeting, that she saw the reality behind the news about Özkan, Beştaş said, ”Because his situation was so very bad, I could only talk 20 minutes with him to learn about his condition. He was in a wheelchair and could not stand. He was just like someone who has spent their last days in an intensive care unit, he even had difficulty in speaking.”
”He told me that he had memory loss due to the medication he was being given. His hands were locked in handcuffs in the hospital and were never taken off during the whole time he spent in the hospital, he informed me,” Beştaş said.
Beştaş stated that Özkan was following the news being reported about him, “While Özkan was describing his situation, he was trying to be strong. He feels sadness at everything he has gone through. It was obvious that he was already suffering before this latest illness,” she noted.
Özkan has been in prison for the past 25 years, suffering severe health problems including high blood pressure, extreme weight loss due to kidney, intestine disorders and amnesia. Human rights organisations, lawyers and the family have been demanding Özkan’s release due to his health condition for years, but applications for his release have been constantly rejected by the authorities.
