Fevzi Ergün, brother of Kurdish refugee İbrahim Ergün, who took his life to protest his detention in the Corinth Refugee Detention Center in Greece, said, "If an individual is in prison in any country, the state is responsible for his life."
24-year-old Kurdish refugee İbrahim Ergün had been under arrest in the Corinth refugee detention center for 17 months.
During a hearing held on 28 March, the court decided the continuation of his detention. The Kurdish refugee ended his life on the same day to protest the verdict.
His brother, Fevzi Ergün, who lives in France, said the refugees in the camp told him that his brother had committed suicide.
“My brother was under arrest for 17 months. The hearings were held for show. It was not even clear why he was detained. He should have been released,” Fevzi Ergün said.
Ergün revealed that he initiated a legal process as soon as he heard the incident. “We expect an autopsy report to be issued today or tomorrow. This is not a normal death. Even if my brother committed suicide, the reasons for this need to be found out. If an individual is in prison in any country, the state is responsible for his life.”
Ergün stated that he would appeal to the European Court of Human Rights if necessary.
After an autopsy, the body of the Kurdish refugee is expected to be taken to his hometown, Muş province, eastern Turkey and buried there.
The ruling right-wing New Democracy party in Greece has hardened its immigration policy, especially in recent months. Violations of rights such as illegal deportation, violence, ill-treatment are rampant.
PROTEST AGAINST ANTI-IMMIGRANT POLICIES
Greece Action League Turkey/Kurdistan also made a statement and said that the refugees are targeted and criminalized by the Greek politicians.
“Immigrants and refugees are also used as a means of blackmail between states. In the last EU summit, in the face of the Turkish state's blackmail of refugees, the EU leaders uttered remarks such as "seeking ways to provide more financial aid ..." in their final declarations, which reveals this dirty bargain and blackmail."
The Greece Action League’s statement said, “Immigrants and refugees are punished in the countries where they reside as a result of racist discriminatory policies. These practices should be stopped immediately and the most fundamental human and political demands of immigrants and refugees should be met.”
The Greece Action League and Anarchists will protest anti-immigrant policies this evening at 18:00 in Syntagma square in the capital Athens.
