Reyhan Abdi from Rojava was taken into custody on 26 August and sent to prison on the 29 by the Turkish judiciary, on charges of "membership in a terrorist organization".

No evidence

Abdi was sent to prison with her two-month-old baby. The Lawyers' Association for Freedom (ÖHD) Istanbul Branch said that Abdi was kept in custody for three days and then unlawfully sent to prison.

The ÖHD said that there was no evidence to justify the arrest and added: “We do not accept the court’s decision. Arrest should be applied exceptionally, both as a restriction of one's fundamental rights and as a protection measure. However, it is obvious that applying a protective measure to a woman with a two-month-old baby will have serious irreversible consequences. Our client lost her milk due to the anxiety she experienced when she was sent to prison with her two-month-old baby and had to leave her three and four-year-old children in need of care. She suffered severe psychological damage.”

Violation of fundamental rights of children

The ÖHD said that the detention of children with their mothers is against basic human and child rights and added: "According to the Child Protection Law and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which Turkey is a party, the current situation in prisons is not suitable for a two-month-old baby to stay in prison."

Speaking to ANF, Abdi's lawyer, Ferhat Boğatekin, said that Reyhan Abdi has been living in Turkey for about five years. "She was accused for her alleged participation in the YPG. Upon this accusation, she was taken into custody at her house. She was arrested after being kept in custody with her baby in Istanbul Vatan Security for three days."

Boğatekin said: “Our client said that she couldn't breastfeed her baby for three days because her milk stopped due to the shock of having been arrested. She does not speak Turkish, she can only speak Kurdish, so she can't have a healthy communication. Her husband is being held in a removal centre. Our client is also very concerned about her other two little children who are left outside."

Lawyers to appeal the arrest decision

Lawyer Ferhat Boğatekin said that Abdi was accused on the basis of one photograph and added that they would appeal the decision. “We have stated to the Criminal Court of Peace that the accusation against our client was baseless and in any case not sufficient to justify her arrest. Our client has been an official resident in Turkey for five years."