83-year-old seriously ill prisoner Mehmet Emin Özkan, who is imprisoned in Diyarbakır D Type Closed Prison, was transferred to the Forensic Medicine Institute (ATK) in Istanbul for a medical report. The transfer followed that to Elazığ for the same purpose.

Aslıhan Bulut, from the Lawyers Association for Freedom (ÖHD), said that ill prisoner Özkan was taken to Istanbul by plane on Saturday morning. Stating that Özkan will be transferred to the ATK in Istanbul today, Bulut added that they could not learn in which prison Özkan was sent to in Istanbul.

Özkan, who was detained in 1996 on the charge of "being a member of a terrorist organization" in Mersin, was held responsible for the death of Brigadier General Bahtiyar Aydın on 22 October 1993 in Lice, province of Amed and sentenced to life imprisonment.

Özkan, who has been in prison for 25 years, has suffered 5 heart attacks while in jail and has many chronic health problems.