The coronavirus outbreak has not stopped torture in Turkish prisons. Prisoners in Adana Kürkçüler F-Type Prison who protested the government for its inaction which led to the death of Grup Yorum member Helin Bölek, after almost 300 days on death fast, were beaten.

Emine Aydın, mother of Fatih Özgür Aydın, told ANF about the beating in prison of four of the prisoners.

Emine Aydın learned about the attack in prison from her son, during their weekly phone call, on 8 April. "My son said that his cells were searched and they were beaten by the guards on 4 April because they protested the death of Helin Bölek. There are 4 people in the cell. Fikret Kara, Umut Gündüz Altun, and a 70-year-old ill prisoner called Sezai. The guards lifted this 70-year-old man from his bed and beaten him. They forced the prisoners to the ground and kicked their heads and faces. They tried to break their arms. My son told me that his face and eyes were covered with bruises."

Indicating that her son has been suffering from Crohn's disease for years, Emine Aydın added that his treatment was discontinued because of the coronavirus epidemic. "The authorities only provided a mask and a pair of gloves together with a tea glass full of bleach. My son said they used that bleach drop by drop. Cells are not being disinfected."

Emine Aydın condemned the decision to exclude political prisoners from the draft law on execution and stressed that it is not possible to accept this discriminatory practice.

Noting that her son has been detained for 2.5 years on the sole basis of false statements of an informer named Berk Ercan, Emine Aydın added that Fatih was sentenced to 10 years in prison and that his was waiting for an appeal.

Noting that these people were imprisoned only because of their ideas, Aydın said: "They did not rape anyone, they did not steal, they did not take anyone's life. Our children are left to die."