The health of a pregnant woman jailed over alleged links to the faith-based Gülen movement has quickly worsened in custody, her husband said Monday, raising concerns about her access to medical care as she awaits trial in southeastern Turkey.
Hatice Doğru, 32, who is four months pregnant and suffers from cardiac arrhythmia, is being held in a crowded women’s ward with around 30 other detainees. Poor ventilation and high temperatures in the cell as well as limited access to medical facilities have heightened concerns among her family about the risk of miscarriage or other health complications.
“We spoke on the phone,” her husband told journalist Sevinç Özarslan from the TR724 news website. “Her heart problems are getting worse. She wants to see a doctor, but she’s afraid to go through the X-ray scanner because of the pregnancy. We don’t know what to do.”
Inmates in Turkish prisons are typically required to pass through an X-ray security scanner when exiting and re-entering the facility, including for medical visits.
According to her husband, the prosecutor rejected her request for an exemption, telling her, “These are the rules, you have to go through the X-ray.”
Doğru was detained on May 6 during a raid on her home in Gaziantep. She was arrested by a court pending trial despite her pregnancy over alleged links to Gülen movement on May 9.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been targeting followers of the Gülen movement, inspired by the late Muslim cleric Fethullah Gülen, since the corruption investigations of 2013, which implicated then-prime minister Erdoğan, his family members and inner circle.
Dismissing the investigations as a Gülenist coup and conspiracy against his government, Erdoğan designated the movement as a terrorist organization and began targeting its members. He intensified the crackdown on the movement following an abortive putsch in 2016, which he accused Gülen of masterminding.
Gülen and the movement strongly deny involvement in the coup attempt or any terrorist activity.
Under Law No. 5275, pregnant women and mothers with children under 18 months should typically be allowed to remain free pending trial.
Her detention was part of a sweeping police operation launched on May 6 across 47 provinces, centered in Gaziantep, targeting alleged followers of the movement. The operation initially resulted in the detention of 208 individuals, most of them university students and recent graduates, with the number later rising to 320, according to defense lawyers.
Doğru’s family continues to call for her immediate release, saying her health and the well-being of her unborn child are at serious risk.
