Turkish authorities have denied the request for parole filed by İlhan Sami Çomak, a 51-year-old inmate, despite his eligibility, Turkish media reported.
According to a tweet shared from an account managed in Çomak’s name, Silivri Prison’s Administration and Observation Board postponed his release by three months.
He was supposed to be released today.
The board said Çomak “has not developed an awareness of the crime he committed, and his tendency to commit crimes, along with the factors that led to his criminal behavior, still persist.”
He had applied for parole on August 21, 2023.
Çomak is a published poet, and the X account under his name has over 17,000 followers.
After the decision, a message shared on the account read, “I will leave here with my head held high, that’s what matters.”
Çomak was sentenced to life in prison in 1994 on charges of attempting to create an autonomous Kurdish state or region by force, as well as arson, both in connection with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
Since the 1980s the PKK has been leading an insurgency that has claimed the lives of some 40,000 people in Turkey. The group is designated as a terrorist organization by Turkey and its Western allies.
Çomak reportedly endured torture during his six-year trial. Initially sentenced to death, his sentence was reduced to life in prison after Turkey abolished the death penalty.
Turkey’s Court of Appeals upheld the sentence in 2000, and Çomak petitioned the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) the following year, arguing that he had been denied a fair trial due to the presence of a military judge.
In 2006 the ECtHR ruled in his favor, ordering compensation and a retrial. However, the retrial was delayed until 2014, when he was once again sentenced to life. His request for release pending trial was denied.
