ISTANBUL - Lawyer Güçlü Sevimli said that considering paying money to prisoners as a crime is an "abdication of reason" and stated that the arrest of 75-year-old Hatice Yıldız due to the said allegation is against both law and conscience.

 

75-year-old prisoner's relative Hatice Yıldız was sentenced to 4 years and 2 months in prison on the charge of "providing finance to a terrorist organization" for depositing money to her daughter and her daughter's cellmate in prison. Yıldız was arrested on March 23 and sent to prison after the sentence was approved. Reactions continue to come against the attempts to "criminalize" sending money to prisons and the arrest of Yıldız.

 

Güçlü Sevimli, a member of the Contemporary Lawyers Association (CHD), made evaluations on the subject.

 

JUDICIAL DIMENSION OF ILLEGALITY

 

Stating that there are two basic unlawful aspects of this case, as Yıldız is seriously ill and the conditions of the "Law on the Prevention of Financing of Terrorism" are not met, Sevimli pointed out that the trial cannot be held under these conditions. Stating that the law cannot be the subject of accusation for Yıldız, Sevimli said that this law does not apply to those who put money into the prison, Sevimli said: "For the last two years, this law has taken action against people who have deposited money to the prison in a completely illegal and interesting way, people are arrested and, as we see in this example, they can be taken to prison. Those who are arrested because they deposited money to the prison a final decision has not yet been made."

 

'THE PURPOSE IS TO ISOLATE'

 

Stating that prisoners held in prison cannot carry cash in accordance with the regulation, Sevimli stated that the deposited money is transferred to the prison's account and is completely under the control of the state, and added: “Think of it this way; The money deposited to the state is called 'financing of the organization'. In other words, it is an unthinkable situation. It is completely against the law. In fact, we can call it a complete mental eclipse. The issue is entirely political. In practice, the state intensively applies all kinds of pressure and usurpation of rights to political prisoners who have been in prison for a long time. This is directly related to the arrest of people for not paying money to prison, considering it a crime, and punishing them for it."

 

Noting that the arrest decision is intended to isolate the prisoners, Sevimli continued: “What is meant to be said is; No one should show solidarity with the political prisoners in prison, they should not even invest money in them, and they should be completely isolated from the outside."

 

'ATK DOCTORS SHOULD BE COMPLAINED'

 

Referring to Yıldız's age and health condition, Sevimli underlined that she cannot stay in prison and continued as follows: “It is said that there are around 1,600 ill prisoners. This is a truly terrifying number. The political government does not release political prisoners who are too seriously ill to stay in prison. It consciously implements this as a policy. The most important aspect of the ill prisoner issue is the reports given by the Forensic Medicine Institute (ATK) regarding ill prisoners, it stating that they can stay in prison. These reports themselves are against both law and medical ethics. Unfortunately, for many years, ATK physicians have been able to sign these reports, which are completely contrary to medical ethics and almost betray their profession. These doctors can be complained to the medical chambers of the city where they are located and they can make disciplinary decisions, including banning them from the profession. I think this would be very effective.”

 

Emphasizing that the arrest decision given on the grounds of paying money to prisons is against the law and conscience, Sevimli said: "I call on all legal institutions to be sensitive and work on this issue."