Sentenced to life imprisonment after being taken into custody in 1995, 50-year-old Imam Çelikdemir endured decades under harsh prison conditions. After 30 years, he was finally released.

Çelikdemir, who was released from the Konya Seydişehir Type T Closed Prison, was welcomed in Dersim by a delegation from the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) and the Democratic Regions Party (DBP). The delegation expressed their well-wishes and drew attention to the rights violations he had endured.