Lawyer Aytaç Ünsal continues to be harassed with new repression measures despite his very serious health condition. Although various forensic medical reports confirmed that the political prisoner, who was seriously debilitated after his 215-day hunger strike last year, is incompatible with prison, the Constitutional Court rejected his request to suspend his sentence. Instead, a one-day isolation cell punishment was issued against him.

Nermin Ünsal, the mother of the People's Legal Office (HHB)’ lawyer, who is in F-Type prison in Edirne, told ANF about a telephone conversation with her son. She said that armoured special forces, as before, stormed and searched her son's cell, where he and two other people are held. Despite the poor health of her son, the special forces disregarded pandemic protection and did not wear gloves nor masks. When Ünsal protested, he was given a one-day isolation punishment as a disciplinary measure.

"I feel very bad, I am in a lot of pain"

The mother described the security forces' actions as unacceptable and added: “My son is not well. He is in great pain, especially his feet are causing him problems. His venous valves are not working properly. Because the blood is not pumped up properly, it collects in the feet and he cannot walk. He gets up every 10 minutes and tries to relieve the pain. He's so thin, his legs are as thick as my forearm. His diet is incomplete. The nerve endings are damaged and he has to get pure vitamin B1. But he doesn't get that in prison. They also didn't give him the thrombosis stockings I sent him. The doctor there gave him closed compression stockings, but because of the destruction of his nerve endings, he is in great pain when putting them on."

"Letters to journalists and members of parliament are classified as suspicious and not sent"

The arbitrary decisions against the lawyer are not limited to this. In a year he is only allowed to receive 20 books and legal newspapers are not given to him, as they are considered "suspicious". Ünsal’s mother reports that the same thing happens with letters that her son writes to parliamentarians or newspapers. She says: "My son is permanently censored and isolated."

"The decision not to release my son is unlawful"

The lawyer's mother is also a retired judge. As a lawyer, she protests against the decision of the Constitutional Court to reject the application for suspension of the sentence. In particular, due to the reports of forensic medicine that there is still danger to life, the decision is without any basis.

In prison since December

Lawyer Aytaç Ünsal was arrested again on 10 December 2020. The certificate of invalidity for one year issued at the beginning of September in the case of the 32-year-old lawyer was revoked.

Aytaç Ünsal has been imprisoned several times.

In February of 2020 year, he and other lawyers in prison went on a hunger strike demanding a fair trial after they were sentenced to long terms in prison on the basis of contradicting statements by a key witness. On 5 April 2020 - “Lawyer’s Day” - he turned his hunger strike into a “death fast” together with his colleague Ebru Timtik, who died at the end of August after 238-day of fast in an Istanbul prison. Ünsal ended his hunger strike on 4 September 2020, the day after he was released, and underwent medical treatment.