Ten women imprisoned for political reasons in the northeastern Anatolian city of Bayburt are not released despite serving their sentences because they refuse to attend military roll call.
Ten political prisoners in the province of Bayburt in northeastern Anatolia are being denied release despite completing their sentences. The measure is based on a new provision in the Prison Act that blocks the release of prisoners who have served their sentences and do not express "remorse."
There are currently 17 women imprisoned for political reasons in the M Type Bayburt prison. Ten of them have been punished with isolation at least three times for refusing the military roll call practiced in the prison.
The affected prisoners are Delila Roj Erkmen, Sibel Kaya, Neslihan Çetin, Fecriye Benek, Serfiraz Demirer, Gurbet Ceylan, Sevda Arcan, Şehriban Akdere, Ayfer Başlığ and Ela Kamış. Most of them participated in the mass hunger strike against the isolation of Abdullah Öcalan in 2020. Sibel Kaya and Ayfer Başlığ had already been sanctioned with a disciplinary sentence for "dancing and singing in an unintelligible language" during the hunger strike for singing Kurdish songs while walking in the courtyard.
