The Amed Bar Association held a press statement in the Bar Association Legal Aid Bureau offices on the hunger strikes in prisons. Bar Association President Cihan Aydin and executive board members as well as many lawyers were present in the meeting.

President Cihan Aydin read a statement and spoke about the hunger strikes in prisons in previous years as well as mentioning their outcomes. Aydin said Leyla Guven was visited by him on November 20, Vice President Gazal Bayram Koluman on December 23 and Board Member Keziban Yilmaz on December 30.

“SHE COULDN’T COME TO OUR LAST VISIT”

Aydin said: “In this last visit on December 30, Leyla Guven wasn’t able to come due to her worsening health. Our lawyers met with other prisoners in the same ward and they told us that Guven has lost a lot of weight, she is sensitive to light and sound, she has headaches and dizziness, trouble with walking and speaking, she has been experiencing fatigue, hypertension and stomach cramps. The symptoms show that Leyla Guven, on the 57th day of her hunger strike today, is at the critical threshold.”

“HUNGER STRIKES SPREAD”

Aydin said Guven told them that she started the hunger strike demanding an end to the isolation imposed upon Kurdish People’s Leader Abdullah Ocalan and added that the hunger strike Guven started has been spreading in prisons. Aydin said the prisoners have relayed their complaints to them that their fundamental rights are not respected and they are not provided with adequate amounts of water, sugar, salt and vitamins.

“THERE MUST BE A VISIT WITH OCALAN”

Bar Association President Cihan Aydin gave messages against the isolation and said:

“As the Diyarbakir Bar Association, we would like to stress that Abdullah Ocalan and the three prisoners in the same prison have the fundamental right to meet with their families, lawyers and tutelars as per the Criminal Execution Act and other legislation. The right to meet with one’s lawyers as recognized by national legislation and guaranteed by international treaties must be allowed to every prisoner at all times equally and without discrimination under any circumstances. To this extent, we are urging the Justice Ministry and other relevant institutions to abandon this discriminatory practice to avoid endangering Ms. Guven’s and other prisoners’ lives further and to fulfill the requirements of national and international law.”