Emrah Meydan, who was jailed March 17, 2016 over his alleged links to the Gülen movement, has been kept in prison despite of his health is in a life-threatening condition which was confirmed by a Forensic Medicine report.
Meydan, who was arrested for helping needy families in Tokat province, has been still kept in jail despite the doctor’s report that his heart conditions are not eligible to stay in prison. Meydan, who has undergone 2 angioplasty and 1 bypass surgery so far, needs to be treated immediately according to the forensic report. However, the prison administration keeps Meydan in jail and causes the disease to progress day by day.
In Turkey, especially after a controversial coup attempt on July 15, 2016, the witch hunt continues without slowing down. Ten thousands of people were imprisoned without crime evidence. Among them, due to the bad conditions of the prisons, illnesses of some of the detainees became worse. One of them is Emrah Meydan, despite the forensic report indicating that there is a need for emergency operation, the prison administration keeps him in his cell with no action.
According to a report by online news portal Aktif Haber, a detention warrant was issued on March 17, 2016 about Emrah Meydan, who collected help for needy families in Tokat province. Meydan, who heard the detention warrant, was himself surrendered to the police headquarter.
However, Meydan was added to the file as a fugitive. His wife, who informed about Emrah Meydan but did not want to pass the name, said, “My husband is cardiac patient, when he was 29 years old had two angio and one bypass. 15 years ago it was normally okay. There was no negative progress in his illness. When he entered prison, his illness increased. And he must have a heart valve surgery. His condition deteriorated in prison conditions. Although there is a forensic report, no action is taken.”
The court was decided to continue the imprisonment of Meydan, after 19 months of pre-trial detention. The doctors, who said immediate surgical intervention is needed, stated that he would be in a life-threatening health condition if he remained in jail.
Saying that Meydan has lost 15 kilograms in the prison, the doctors has added that “Emrah Meydan’s heart valve should be changed. The intervention in prison conditions means his death.”
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 Turkey’s autocratic President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan pinned the blame on the Gülen movement.
Fethullah 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, 2016. Turkey’s Justice Ministry announced on July 13 that 50,510 people have been arrested and 169,013 have been the subject of legal proceedings on coup charges since the failed coup.
