ANKARA - 28-year prisoner Gülşan Adet said: “There is isolation in prisons. Prisoners are abandoned to their fate. Everyone must see this and act accordingly. Whatever needs to be done must be done now, tomorrow it may be too late.”
Gülşan Adet, a prisoner in Sincan Women's Closed Prison, has completed her sentence but her release has been postponed twice. In 1996, Adet was detained and tried by the State Security Court (DGM) and sentenced to life imprisonment for “disrupting the unity and integrity of the state”. Adet completed the execution of her sentence on March 28. However, the Administrative and Observation Board postponed Adet's release once for 3 months and once for 6 months.
'ENEMY LAW IS BEING APPLIED'
Adet, whose release was prevented, responded in a letter to our questions about the purpose of the observation boards and their practices. Adet pointed out that the committees produce justifications that prisoners are not in “good behavior”, and stated that releases are prevented.
Adet said: “In fact, the execution judgeship is an institution that approves the administrations. The board has not responded positively to any of our applications since its establishment. The courts and the Administrative Monitoring Boards are working against us in a synchronized manner. Ankara has already been chosen as a pilot region in this regard. This is because it is at the center of all state mechanisms. The prison administration and all other judicial institutions are completely applying enemy law against political prisoners.”
'DEPRIVATION OF BREATH' REGULATION
Adet said that they have taken these decisions of the board to the Constitutional Court (AYM) due to the decisions of judges and courts, but noted that the AYM has not made a positive or negative decision so far. Adet said: “The so-called 9th Judicial Package is completely against political prisoners. This regulation includes more isolation and more severe punishments. In short, it is an attempt to deprive political prisoners of breath, break their hopes and force them to surrender. These practices are not independent from the war against the Kurdish people and the isolation imposed on PKK Leader Abdullah Öcalan. The isolation and the unlawful practices have reached a level that covers the whole society. With the İmralı torture system, the whole society is wanted to be taken over. Therefore, wherever in the world the government finds an inhumane method, it tries to apply it on political prisoners.”
Reminding that Turkey claims to act according to European Union (EU) norms, “If today the prisons are full to capacity and new prisons are constantly being built, this is due to the regime's failure to solve the Kurdish problem. For 40 years the same way and method has been tried. These are the basic policies of the special war regime on us prisoners for 40 years. The struggle for freedom, democracy and human rights is a struggle that requires continuity. Therefore, the government wants to break this struggle with different practices in the person of political prisoners” Adet said.
Adet said that there is a special attitude in Sincan Women's Closed Prison and that the prison is run by MHP cadres and added: “The first director of the prison, the prosecutor of the prison and the prosecutor are all MHP cadres. Devlet Bahçeli determines who is released from prison and who is not. Bahçeli is the guardian of Sincan Women's Closed Prison. Therefore, political prisoners cannot be expected to be released for 'good behavior'.”
'PRISONERS ABANDONED TO THEIR FATE'
Stating that the public should be sensitive to what is happening, Adet continued her words as follows: “There is a terrible isolation in prisons, especially in İmralı. Prisoners are left to their own fate. New prisons of various types are being built. Prisoners are kept in cells and this system is becoming more and more widespread. In fact, prisoners are slowly being executed by these methods. Everyone should see this and act accordingly. Whatever needs to be done must be done now, tomorrow it may be too late.”