Mehmet Emin Özkan was finally released after 27 years in prison. The 84-year-old political prisoner has been innocently held in Turkish prisons since 1996 and is seriously ill. The execution of his sentence was suspended for three months due to his critical state of health. According to his daughter Selma Özkan, the Kurdish man, who was sentenced to life imprisonment, was hospitalised again on 13 July due to acute health problems in the high security prison in Amed (Diyarbakır). Yesterday, he was transferred from the intensive care unit to a normal ward and was then taken back to prison. When his son asked for the doctor's report at the court building, the public prosecutor in charge told him that his sentence had been suspended for three months. The relatives then drove to the prison to pick Özkan up.

On the IHD list of seriously ill prisoners

Özkan was received outside the prison with applause and trills of joy and could only walk with support. His family brought him home.

Mehmet Emin Özkan was sentenced to life imprisonment as an alleged PKK member for the murder of Turkish Brigadier General Bahtiyar Aydın in the Lice district of Amed in September 1996. The judiciary has known of his innocence since 2014 at the latest. Two witnesses later stated that they had made false statements under torture. After the European Court of Human Rights confirmed in a ruling that Özkan's right to a fair trial had been violated, the trial was reopened in Turkey.

Özkan fell seriously ill in prison and was not able to care for himself without the help of his fellow prisoners for years. He was included in the list of "seriously ill prisoners" by the Human Rights Association (IHD). His family fought for his release for years.

"We will resist to the very end"

Speaking to Mezopotamya agency (MA) at his home after his release, Özkan, who suffers from hearing loss, said: “We have resisted until today and kept our promise. I am not sorry for the price I have paid so far. We will resist to the very end. The prison conditions are quite severe and our friends there are putting up great resistance. Words would fail to express the resistance there. The Turkish state has not been able to break this resistance no matter whatever it did.”

Özkan noted that his jail time would have entered the 28th year in 3 months, adding: “All the heavy burden was on the shoulders of the Kurdish people. We knew it. The people have resisted up until today. I wish everyone success.”

Killing of Bahtiyar Aydın

Turkish Brigadier General Bahtiyar Aydın was shot dead in Lice on 22 October 1993. The PKK denied involvement in the murder of the brigadier general, while the Turkish government blamed the guerrillas. One day after the murder, the Turkish military carried out an act of revenge against the people of Lice. Sixteen people fell victim to a massacre, and another 36 people were injured, some seriously. The army set fire to a total of 402 houses and 285 workplaces, and the number of people displaced is still unclear. Later it came out that Aydın had been shot by his own people.