Political prisoner Halis Tekin has been released after thirty years in Turkish jails. Hundreds of other prisoners are denied release without a legal hearing.

Tekin was arrested in Bitlis (Bedlis) in 1994 at the age of twenty and sentenced to life imprisonment for separatism before a state security court in Amed. On Tuesday, he was able to leave the maximum security prison No. 1 in Amed. Relatives and board members of the prisoner relief association TUAY-DER welcomed and greeted as he left prison. Tekin gave a short speech in which he saluted the other prisoners. He then drove with his relatives to the family's apartment in Amed.

Tekin was one of the prisoners who fell ill in custody and was classified as seriously ill by the human rights association IHD.

Yılmaz Suncak (51) was released after 31 years in jail. He left Izmir Şakran No. 1 T Type Closed Prison on Tuesday after completing his sentence. Suncak, who was detained in Izmir in 1993 and then taken to Mardin and arrested after being subjected to severe torture for 50 days, was sentenced to life imprisonment on the charge of "disrupting the unity and integrity of the state". He was diagnosed with thyroid cancer 10 years ago in Kırıklar Prison. Having undergone numerous surgeries, Suncak developed advanced COPD due to prison conditions.