In Turkey, the practice of not releasing political prisoners after they have completed their regular sentence has become widespread in recent years. The legislation defines this procedure, which is mainly used as a means of pressure in the case of sick prisoners, as follows: "If the convict commits an intentional offence that entails a custodial sentence between the time of conditional release and the supervision period, the convict's release shall be suspended. It is sufficient that the second offence is committed within the supervision period." However, since the term "offence" is not defined here and it is the responsibility of the prison administration to impose sentences, prisoners are arbitrarily punished. When suspending release, prison administrations use every step prisoners take as a pretext to punish them. The suspension of release by the monitoring committees is now so widespread that it is difficult to obtain any data at all. According to available figures, at least 217 political prisoners have been affected so far. Some of these prisoners were later released, while others have not been released to date.

Sinan Sütpak was jailed on 3 May 1993 in the Hilvan district of Urfa and sentenced to life imprisonment. Despite the fact that he has served his sentence, 30 years, he is being denied release from prison on the grounds that he does not have “good conduct.”

Sütpak has been held in prisons in Urfa, Adıyaman, Bursa and Maraş so far and is currently jailed in Yozgat province in central Anatolia. Shortly before his release, he was transferred from Elbistan to Yozgat after the devastating Maraş-centered earthquakes in early February.

While Sütpak was meant to be freed on 3 May, his release was suspended for three months. Earlier today, he once again appeared before a administrative observing committee, which once again postponed his release until after three months.

According to reports, Sütpak will object to the committee decision through his lawyer.