MÛŞ – Orman Sakçı, who spent 30 years of his life in prison, emphasized that one of the foremost steps to achieve the goals of the "Peace and Democratic Society Process" is the release of ill prisoners.
As the "Call for Peace and Democratic Society," aimed at resolving the Kurdish issue, continues, one of the society’s primary demands is the freedom of ill prisoners. According to a report by the Human Rights Association (İHD), there are at least 1,412 ill prisoners in prisons, 335 of whom are seriously ill.
Orman Sakçı, who has spent 30 years behind bars and suffers from various illnesses, stressed that the release of ill prisoners is a necessary expression of sincerity towards the process.
Sakçı was detained in Bursa in 1994 and sentenced to life imprisonment in the trial held in Mûş. He was held in multiple prisons including Muş E-Type, Gaziantep Special Type, Adıyaman E-Type, Diyarbakır D-Type, Muş E-Type again, Tekirdağ T-Type, İzmir Şakran No. 3 T-Type, and Antalya High Security Prisons. He was released on December 31, 2023.
"ILL PRISONERS SHOULD BE RELEASED"
Commenting on the differences in the political atmosphere during his arrest and release, Sakçı said: "Doing politics in the Middle East and preserving one’s power is very important. The current state of the country is evident. There is an economic bottleneck. Undemocratic practices have become blatant. On the other hand, a new process is underway. This process has created a transformation within the Kurdish freedom movement and at the same time has opened up the chance for a new democratic process in Turkey."
Sakçı highlighted that Abdullah Öcalan’s call and the ongoing process hold potential benefits for all parties. He noted, one of the most important issues in the process is ill prisoners. Urgent action must be taken regarding them. He said: "From the 1990s to the 2000s, there were severe torture and long detention periods in prisons. The torture inflicted serious damage on prisoners’ bodies. Due to doctors’ ideological attitudes and prisons’ neglect, illnesses worsened. Currently, ill prisoners cannot access healthcare."
Drawing attention to the treatment of ill prisoners, Sakçı added: "You are ill and need medication and treatment, but conditions are not suitable. When you are brought from the prison to the hospital, your feet are tied, your arm is tied to the bed frame. So, you cannot move. Psychologically, this already has severe effects. Even if someone is ill, they do not want to go to the hospital. This is ignored and the sick prisoner is left alone with their illness. Releasing sick prisoners is a sign of goodwill in the process. Not only ill prisoners but all political prisoners should be released. For sincerity, I believe all prisoners should be freed."