Aydın Kudat and Abdurrahman Güner (54), who were arrested in 1992 in Bismil district of Amed and sentenced to life imprisonment by the State Security Court (DGM) for “disrupting the unity and integrity of the state”, were prevented from being released for the 4th time. 

 

Kudat and Güner, who were supposed to be released from Karabük Type T Prison on September 6, 2022, were not released due to a one-year prison sentence given to them in 1996 on the grounds that they had written a petition in Yozgat in 1995 on the “status of captivity (not accepting captivity)”. 

 

Kudat and Güner, who were acquitted after this sentence was overturned in 2012, learned about this decision in December 2022. Upon learning of their acquittal, the prisoners applied for release. However, their release was postponed for 1 year by the Prison Administration Monitoring Board on the grounds that they refused to accept the “remorse” imposition. The board decided to postpone their release for 3 months in December 2023 and for 5 months on March 27, 2024. 

 

The release of prisoners Kudat and Güner was postponed for another 5 months and 1 day on August 28 on the grounds that they refused to accept the imposition of “remorse”. 

 

ADMINISTRATION THREATENS PRISONERS 

 

Zeynep Güner, Güner's guardian in Karabük Type T Prison, stated that the prison administration took the prisoners to the corridor and forced them to say “regret” for nearly an hour. Güner said that the prisoners' release was postponed because they refused to say “I regret” and that the prison administration threatened the prisoners with the words “As long as you refuse to say ‘I regret’, you will not be released”. 

 

Stating that Abdurrahman Güner, for whom he is the guardian, has stomach ailments and has been diagnosed with suspected cancer, Güner said: “His brother lost his life due to stomach cancer. In addition to this, prisoners have problems in going to the hospital. The prison administration creates problems at the point of taking them to the hospital and the treatment of our friends is disrupted.”

 

'IMPOSITION OF REMORSE IS A CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY'

 

Stating that the prisoners have stated that “they have done nothing to regret”, Güner said that it is “dishonorable” to impose “regret” on prisoners who have completed 32 years in prison. “This imposition that the system and the prison administration want to impose is a crime against humanity” Güner said.