Human Rights Association (IHD) Istanbul Branch Prison Commission held its 473rd weekly "F sit-in" online, due to the coronavirus pandemic. This week’ statement underlined the situation of seriously ill prisoner Şemsettin Özer, who in in Samsun Bafra T Type Prison.

IHD Istanbul Branch Prison Commission spokesperson Mehmet Acettin said that the reason for the intensification of the isolation imposed on political prisoners is the worsening of the isolation in Imrali Prison. Referring to the indefinite-alternate hunger strikes going on in prisons for 5 months, Acettin called on the authorities to respond to the prisoners’ demands before the hunger strike is turned into a death fast.

Acettin said that Şemsettin Özer, who has been imprisoned for 27 years, has been deported to different prisons many times in this time and added that he has caught many diseases in prison. Acettin, sharing the information he received from Özer's relatives, said: “Three months ago, Şemsettin Özer was taken to the prison infirmary after experiencing difficulty in breathing, then he was urgently transferred to the hospital and was diagnosed with throat cancer and brought back to the prison. His treatment began at Samsun Training and Research Hospital, where he was taken every two weeks, but his condition worsened during the treatment process. When he became ill and was unable to breathe, he was kept in intensive care for one day after an emergency intervention and then he was taken back to the hospital ward before been brought to prison and placed in a single quarantine room. Özer, who worsened in quarantine conditions, was underwent surgery on 6 April 2021 in Samsun Training and Research Hospital."

Acettin said that Özer, who is the author of the books "A person who seeks himself with philosophy" and "7 days of my life", wanted to recover, survive and go back to write. Stating that Özer's treatment should be done outside, Acettin added that the request for a postponement of execution should be accepted and that all ill prisoners should be released taking into account the risks connected to the coronavirus pandemic.