Autistic child injures self to express grief over detention of Turkish father in Malaysia

Ten-year-old autistic son of İhsan Arslan, a Turkish businessman who was detained in Malaysia last week, has been physically harming himself to express his sadness.

The ten-year-old autistic son of İhsan Arslan, a Turkish businessman who was detained in Malaysia last week, has been physically harming himself to express his sadness, his mother Ainnurul Aisyah Yunos told press on May 8.

Unable to talk, Rafael slaps his face repeatedly and bites his arms to cope with his father’s absence, Yunos said during a press conference in Kuala Lumpur. The couple has two other children aging between 2 to 10.

Arslan was arrested along with Turgay Karaman– the principal of Time International School in the city of Ipoh – over national security charges, on May 2. Only two days after their arrest, İsmet Ozcelik – a university director also residing in Malaysia – was rounded up on the same charges.

The government earlier asked foreign governments to go after Gülen followers in their own countries.

“I am worried that my husband may be deported to Turkey without fair trial in Malaysia,” Yunos said.

Amnesty International has launched an ‘urgent action’ campaign for the detained three Turkish nationals, asking people to call on Malay officials to avoid extradition on May 5.

“There are also concerns that they could be at risk of torture or other ill-treatment, unfair trial or other serious human right violations, should they be returned to Turkey,” Amnesty said echoing Human Rights Watch and UN Human Rights Office in South-East Asia. (turkeypurge.com) May 9, 2017

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