Mehmet Emin Özkan, an 83-year-old inmate who was not released by authorities despite suffering from severe health problems, was hospitalized on Tuesday night after his condition deteriorated and is currently in intensive care, the Mezopotamya news agency reported.
Özkan’s family learned about his hospitalization when they called the prison but was not able to receive any updates about his condition.
Özkan, who has been in prison for the past 25 years, has suffered four heart attacks. He has other health problems as well, such as high blood pressure, toxic goiter, osteoporosis, kidney disease, memory loss and loss of hearing and sight. Özkan is unable to take of his basic daily needs, so a cellmate assists him.
Özkan was sentenced to aggravated life for alleged membership in the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). He was found responsible for the death of Brig. Gen. Bahtiyar Aydın in October 1993.
Özkan denies any responsibility in the incident, and a court in May ruled for a retrial.
The charges against Özkan were based on two witness testimonies that were later recanted. In a 2014 indictment for what is known as the “Lice trial,” the Diyarbakır Public Prosecutor’s Office said there was no tangible evidence that Özkan had ever taken part in terrorist activities. The trial concerned the alleged illegal activities of gendarmerie intelligence units known as JİTEM.
The PKK has been waging an armed insurgency against Turkey’s security forces since the ’80s in a campaign that has claimed the lives of some 40,000 people. The group is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the European Union and the US.
Bar associations and human rights activists have been calling for Özkan’s release. Images on social media of Özkan being taken to a hospital in handcuffs caused outrage among activists in June.
Rewşa girtiyê nexweş Mehmet Emîn Ozkan (Apê Dedo) carek din xera bû û destê wî kelemçe kirin û birin nexweşxaneyê. Di dîmenên hatine girtin de tê dîtin ku Ozkan bi zorê xwe li ser pêya digirehttps://t.co/bscPqw2ks5pic.twitter.com/0wpreYyd05
— Ajansa Mezopotamya (@Makurdi4) May 26, 2021
In the same month 21 bar associations and civil society organizations issued a joint statement calling on Turkish authorities to release him. The statement said Özkan is unable to look after himself and is being kept in prison despite medical reports saying he’s not fit to be incarcerated.
“Keeping M. Emin Özkan in prison instead of treating him as an inpatient, not sending him to a hospital until his condition has deteriorated … show that inhuman treatment has become systematic,” the organizations said.
