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Hazal Kaygısız, 72, has been holding the Justice Vigil in İzmir for four months, demanding the release of her son Yılmaz Suncak who has had advanced cancer for eight years and should be under specialised medical care. Still, the applications to both the Forensic Medicine Institute and the Ministry of Justice have been rejected reported Mezopotamiya News Agency.
Kaygısız said that she has difficulty going to prison due to her advancing age and illnesses. “They took our children intact; then they all got sick in prison. We will take care of our children, even if we have to crawl,” she added.
The political prisoner Suncak, on the İHD’s list of seriously ill detainees, cannot survive on his own in prison. However, the actions taken by multiple civil society organisations to release Suncak have been rejected.
Suncak was arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment for terrorism after being subjected to severe torture for 50 days in custody in 1993. The 49-year-old political prisoner has been in prison for 29 years and spent his jail time in 10 different prisons. He was diagnosed with thyroid cancer eight years ago and has undergone numerous surgeries due to his illness since then. Suncak also suffers from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and shortness of breath. Due to his illnesses, he needs to be under the constant supervision of a doctor.
The Justice Vigil, started in November 2021 by the families of ill prisoners who came together to draw attention to the violations of rights in prisons and to announce their demands, continues with its actions in different provinces.
According to April 2022 data of the Human Rights Association (İHD), there are over 1,500 sick prisoners, 651 of whom are seriously ill, in Turkish prisons. In addition, 22 of 45 detainees whose release requests were rejected despite their serious illnesses died in jail due to their conditions in the last year.
