Van-Hanife Arslan (76) was sentenced to six years and three months in prison on charges of “membership in an illegal organization”. She has been serving her sentence since 2022 although Hanife Arslan suffers from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), diabetes and hypertension. Her lawyer has required the supervised release for Hanife Arslan and other sick prisoner Makbule Özer seven times; however, a Turkish court has rejected the request, citing the health report prepared by the Forensic Medicine Institution (ATK) saying, “She could stay in prison”. “The health of the two mothers has been deteriorating,” said their lawyer, Jiyan Özkaplan.

Hanife Arslan and Makbule Özer support each other in order to meet their daily needs, Jiyan Özkaplan said. “Hanife Arslan is an old woman and she often says ‘I do not think I will get out of here alive’.” According to a presidential decree, if one person is old and sick, she/he must be released, “But Hanife Arslan has not been released although she is old and sick. The court rejects our request citing the report prepared by the ATK. The report prepared by the ATK is not an impartial and independent report.”

‘The Ministry accepts she is sick by sending a toilet’

Hanife Arslan also suffers from osteoporosis. “She cannot walk anymore. She has to use a wheelchair when I go to the prison to see her. The needs of Hanife Arslan and Makbule Özer have been met by people held in their ward because they cannot meet their needs anymore. Hanife Arslan can hardly sleep at night due to hypertension. She believes that she will die in prison. The Ministry of Justice accepts that the two mothers are sick by sending a toilet (prisons in Turkey have squat toilets) to the prison for them. Even the wardens say, ‘She should be released immediately’.”

She transferred to hospital 68 times

People’s Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) MPs applied to the Parliamentary Human Rights Investigation Commission about the health of Hanife Arslan. The General Directorate of Prisons and Detention Houses (an institution affiliated with the Turkish Ministry of Justice) sent a written response saying that the report prepared by the ATK was taken into consideration. According to the received reports, Hanife Arslan has been transferred to hospital from prison 68 times since 2022. Despite that, the Ministry of Justice has not rejected the request of her lawyer for her release.