Although the public prosecutor's office ordered the immediate transfer of seriously ill 85-year-old prisoner Sıddık Güler to the Institute of Forensic Medicine, this has not yet been carried out. The DEM Party brought the case before parliament.
85-year-old Kurdish prisoner Sıddık Güler, who is being held in Iskenderun prison in southern Turkey and is seriously ill according to medical reports, has not yet been transferred to the Institute of Forensic Medicine (ATK) for examination, despite an order from the public prosecutor's office. The DEM Party has called this a violation of fundamental rights and brought the case before the Turkish parliament.
Güler suffers from several chronic illnesses, including Alzheimer's, heart problems, high blood pressure, and rheumatism. On May 21, the Iskenderun public prosecutor's office ordered that Güler be transferred to the ATK “without delay” within three days so that his fitness for detention could be medically examined. According to its own statements, the prison informed the responsible gendarmerie unit. However, more than three weeks after the order was issued, the transfer has not yet taken place.
DEM Party MP Newroz Uysal Aslan raised the issue in parliament. In a written inquiry to Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya, she speaks of a violation of the right to life and health and accuses the authorities of wilful misconduct.
The inquiry raises the following questions, among others: Why has the transfer not yet been carried out? Is the Ministry of the Interior aware of the facts of the case? And have disciplinary proceedings been initiated against the gendarmerie unit responsible?
The Güler case is part of an ongoing debate about the treatment of seriously ill prisoners in Turkey. Human rights organizations regularly criticize the fact that transfers or releases are delayed or not carried out despite medical necessity. The authorities, on the other hand, point to “organizational hurdles” and emphasize that each case is examined individually.
Sıddık Güler comes from a village in the Bismil district of Amed (tr. Diyarbakır). In 1994, he was arrested there and sentenced to life imprisonment by one of the notorious State Security Courts (DGM) in an arbitrary trial on charges of “destruction of the unity of the Turkish state.” He has been on the list of seriously ill prisoners maintained by the Human Rights Association (IHD) for years. Several attempts by his lawyers to have the remainder of Güler's sentence suspended on the grounds of his unfitness for detention have so far failed due to the Turkish judiciary.
