A Turkish lawyer has stated on Friday that a military officer jailed in İstanbul’s notorious Silivri Prison has lost his life because of the prison authorities’ negligence after he has experienced a celebral hemorrhage on Tuesday. It was learned that the name of the military officer is Colonel Adnan Çetin.
Lawyer Kemal Uçar has shared serial tweets on his personal Twitter account on Friday and stated that “I have confirmed that brain death of (a colonel) has occurred. … The family members of this colonel has still not been allowed to enter his room because he is still a prisoner. Soldiers are waiting at his door. It is a total eclipse of mind to think that a soldier who is brain-dead could escape.”
The serial Twitter posts of lawyer Kemal Uçar are as follows:
“Today I went to Silivri Prison to visit my 2 clients who are military officers and jailed in the B-1 ward of the No. 4 Prison. An horrible incident was experienced in their ward on February 13, 2018…
“A colonel from Turkish Air Forces, who was jailed as part of Turkish Air Force case which will be tried on April 16, 2018 and has been remanded in the same ward with my clients, has experienced a severe health problem. The severity of his health situation could be seen even with the naked eye…
“The Colonel was immediately carried to infirmary. However, he was brought back to the ward after he was only given serum as it was still attached to his body. He arrived to the ward in a situation that he could not walk, could not speak, and could not move… The other inmates in the ward reported the situation to the prison guards.
“However, since the Colonel was previously examined by a doctor, it became a issue of discussion whether to transfer him to hospital or not. Following the begging and insistence of other inmates for about 20-25 minutes, the Colonel was eventually transferred to Silivri State Hospital. The bitter facts have emerged there…
“The Colonel was immediately referred by the Silivri State Hospital to Bakırköy Dr. Sadi Konuk Education Research Hospital… Because the Colonel was experiencing a celebral hemorrhage…
“Due to the belated first intervention and progress in bleeding, I have learned that, the Colonel’s Brain death was already realised…
“The detention” that is said to be a “measure” now goes beyond the punishments. Those who have beeb arrested as a “measure” have lost their lives, their lives!.. Can you bring the life of anybody who has passed away? If you can not look after a patient, then do not arrest him/her. The persecutions have became unbearable!..”
Stockholm Center for Freedom (SCF) has reported in one of its studies titled “Suspicous Deaths and Suicides In Turkey” that there has been an increase in the number of suspicious deaths in Turkey, most in Turkish jails and detention centers where a torture and ill-treatment is being practiced. In most cases, authorities concluded these as suicides without any effective, independent investigation.
The suspicious death has also taken place beyond the prison walls amid psychological pressure and threats of imminent imprisonment and torture, sometimes following the release of suspects or just before the detention. SCF has compiled 106 cases of suspicious death and suicides in Turkey in a list in a searchable database format.
Turkey survived a controversial military coup attempt on July 15, 2016 that killed 249 people. Immediately after the putsch, the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government along with Turkish autocratic President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan pinned the blame on the Gülen movement.
Gülen, who inspired the movement, strongly denied having any role in the failed coup and called for an international investigation into it, but President Erdoğan — calling the coup attempt “a gift from God” — and the government initiated a widespread purge aimed at cleansing sympathizers of the movement from within state institutions, dehumanizing its popular figures and putting them in custody.
Turkey has suspended or dismissed more than 150,000 judges, teachers, police and civil servants since July 15. Turkey’s Interior Minister announced on December 12, 2017 that 55,665 people have been arrested. Previously, on December 13, 2017, The Justice Ministry announced that 169,013 people have been the subject of legal proceedings on coup charges since the failed coup.
A total of 48,305 people were arrested by courts across Turkey in 2017 over their alleged links to the Gülen movement, said Turkish Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu on Dec. 2, 2018. “The number of detentions is nearly three times higher,” Soylu told a security meeting in İstanbul and claimed that “Even these figures are not enough to reveal the severity of the issue.”
