Jailed Co-mayor of Lice transported to Van with her sick child

Lice Co-mayor Rezan Zuğurli, who was jailed on August 17, was transferred from Amed to Van T Type Prison. Zuğurli's one-year-old sick baby was also taken to Van in a high security prisoner transfer vehicle.

Co-mayor of Amed's Lice district Rezan Zuğurli was arrested in 2012 on the allegation of "committing an offense on behalf of a terrorist organisation without being a direct member". After spending 13 months behind bars, Zuğurli was eventually released but sentenced afterwards to 4 years and 2 months in prison by Diyarbakır 2nd Heavy Penal Court. After the final court ruling, she was arrested in Amed on August 17.

Zuğurli was transferred from Diyarbakır E Type Prison to Van T Type Prison together with her one-year-old baby the day before. Zuğurli's husband Uğur Ataş said they were not informed about the transfer at all and that they have learned about his wife’s transfer from a prisoner just released from Van Prison.

SICK BABY ALSO TRANSFERRED IN A HIGH SECURITY VEHICLE

Ataş stated that their one-year-old baby was transferred together with his wife and said: "Our son Alîşer Robîn is ill. I would take him very cautiously from prison to hospital for his regular treatment. There's a problem with his lungs. He cannot breath well. And being in closed rooms makes it harder for him to breath. They know all this well, yet they still drove our child in a high security prisoner transfer vehicle.”

“FAMILY NOT INFORMED ON PRETEXT OF STATE OF EMERGENCY”

Ataş voiced concerns over the health of their baby after the transfer, saying; “They should have informed me when this was the case, that violates the related articles of the United Nations conventions. After learning about the incident, I went to the prison for clarification and they told me that they could no inform me due to the state of emergency."

“THE TRANSFER IS ARBITRARY”

Reacting to the forced transfer of his wife, Ataş continued: “With her penalty of less than two years, she shouldn’t have been transferred in this way. This is a completely arbitrary decision. My wife is an elected co-mayor and she is facing such practices because they cannot accept this truth.

Ataş said he was allowed to see his baby once a week while in Amed, adding that from now on he will be able to see his wife and baby only once a month.