Several political prisoners suffered food poisoning in the maximum security prison in Van. It is unclear how many inmates are affected in total. Journalist Cemil Uğur is also among those suffering from food poisoning. The correspondent for the Kurdish news agency Mezopotamya (MA) has been in custody for three and a half months. He is accused of terrorism and "subversive reporting" based on articles about the so-called "helicopter torture" against two Kurdish villagers.

Uğur told his lawyer that the prisoners were given rotten chicken on Wednesday. The guards had been made aware that the meal looked "bad". The prisoners were then told that the food was "okay," MA quoted the lawyer as saying. However, after eating, all prisoners were taken to the hospital ward, where they were given antibiotics.

Cemil Uğur was arrested in October along with his colleague Adnan Bilen, JinNews correspondent Şehriban Abi and journalist Nazan Sala in Van. The Kurdish press had reported that two villagers were thrown from a Turkish military helicopter after their arrest near Çatak and then beaten and kicked. Cemil Uğur published the hospital report which showed that the two villagers, Servet Turgut and Osman Şiban, had sustained injuries when falling from a height. While Osman Şiban has recovered somewhat from the torture he had suffered, Servet Turgut died on 30 September from his injuries.