Letter from prison: Kurdish TV denied to Kurdish political prisoners in Germany

Kurdish political prisoners in Stammheim Prison in Germany have been denied access to Kurdish TV channels, according to a letter that was sent to Kurdish media outlets on Tuesday by a group of inmates.

In their letter, the inmates said that for over a year they had been making repeated applications to the prison administration to have Kurdish channels like Medya Haber TV, Sterk TV and Med Müzik TV included in the viewing system, and that their applications had finally been agreed to in September 2021.

Their letter reads:

“However, today, which is in fact 3 May, World Press Freedom Day, these three channels were taken off the central TV system by prison security on the instructions of the prison administration, with no explanation at all. When we asked why they had chosen to take such a step, we were told that the prison administration believed that the channels ‘constituted a security threat in the prison’. They are insistent that this is legal and that they are authorised to take such a step, although it lacks any legal basis.”

The letter continues:

“Just at a time when the Freedom Guerilla are gaining victories against the colonialist Turkish army, by applying this kind of fascistic practice in the German prisons the German state has demonstrated its partnership with Turkish colonialism.”