ISTANBUL - The release of prisoner Halil Ay was postponed for 3 months due to his refusal to comment on the Peace and Democratic Society Process.

 

The release of Halil Ay, who is being held in Tekirdağ F-Type High Security Prison No 1, was postponed for 3 months. Ay completed his sentence on 19 August. At its evaluation meeting on 12 August, the Administrative and Observation Board postponed Ay's release for 3 months, claiming that he was "not in good behaviour".

 

Ay's refusal to accept the imposition of "remorse", staying with political prisoners and his hunger strike actions in the past were used as grounds for his release. In the board's decision, it was stated that Ay had bought books from the prison library and participated in sports activities, and that this situation was "positive". In the decision, it was stated that prisoners would be released if they scored over 40 points, and Ay's score was 44.08. However, despite this score, no release decision was made. This was justified as "he was not in good behaviour when the whole file was evaluated together".

 

Ay's refusal to answer a question about the ongoing process to resolve the Kurdish issue was also cited as a reason for his release. The board's decision stated that "the 'terrorist' organisation did not share any information about the current peace process".

 

The next board evaluation of Ay will be held on 19 November.

 

ABOUT HALIL AY

 

Ay was detained and arrested in 2017. Ay was sentenced to a total of 12 years and 11 months in prison for "terror organization membership", "unauthorised possession or seizure of substances" and "damaging public property".

 

MA / Omer Ibrahimoglu