‘Doctor doesn’t know about the fact of death fast’

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Currently hospitalized in İstanbul, death fasting arrested lawyer Aytaç Ünsal has penned a letter about his struggles to have an attendant at hospital. In his letter, he has noted that the evaluation of the doctor was more uninformed than those of prison wardens and gendarmerie officers.

On a death fast for 235 days as of today (August 24), Ebru Timtik is currently held in Dr. Sadi Konuk Training and Research Hospital in İstanbul. Death fasting for 202 days, Aytaç Ünsal is in Kanuni Sultan Süleyman Training and Research Hospital, which is also in İstanbul.

Both hospitals are pandemic hospitals.

'She was talking unaware of my daily needs'

Ünsal could use his right to have an attendant at hospital after struggling for it for a long time. He has written the following about those days:

"I woke up in the morning with a severe fatigue, I had pains in my body. I had to sleep in my clothes that I was wearing while I was dragged on the floor in prison and taken from stretcher to stretcher in the emergency service.

"From the afternoon onwards, the officers at the door started talking to their commander about my situation. The warden said, 'He can hardly walk, Sir.' After some time, the gendarmerie officer said to his commander, 'He does not seem to be at a very dangerous stage, Sir.'

"What the attending physician responsible for me said after that showed what kind of a situation the health system of the country is. She said, ''He can walk by himself, he is not bedridden, so he doesn't need anyone to accompany him.' For the doctor, I had to writhe on the floor so that I could have an attendant. Most probably, she did not even know about the fact of death fast. She was speaking unaware that liquids had to be prepared for me, she was not aware of my daily needs. She was taking a mechanical decision, thinking through other patients."

Call to the government and Court of Cassation

Nermin Ünsal, the mother and attorney of Aytaç Ünsal, has spoken to bianet about the issue. She has called on both the government officials and the Court of Cassation to return to law and to take a concrete step by releasing the death fasting arrested lawyers immediately:

"The file of the lawyers of Progressive Lawyers Association (ÇHD) came to the 16th Penal Chamber of the Court of Cassation in February 2020. Aytaç and Ebru turned their indefinite hunger strike into a death fast on April 5, 2020. My spouse Nihat submitted a petition to the Court of Cassation, demanding that their file be examined as soon as possible.

"Though the Court of Cassation started examining the file on June 1 and said it would conclude it in a month, it has postponed it until after judicial recess.

"Both lawyers with a report of 'They cannot stay in prison' are now held in a literally solitary confinement cell, they are held in a room without ventilation and under the surveillance of the gendarmerie 24/7. There is a risk that their immune system will collapse as they cannot sleep due to noise and intense light. Their death has been speeded up here on purpose.

"While the right to life is guaranteed by the Constitution, the government authorities and Court of Cassation are still silent as if there was no such incident. If they are not released, the ones who gave these instructions and the Court of Cassation will be accountable for the death of two lawyers."

What happened?

On a death fast in prison for their right to a fair trial, arrested lawyers Ebru Timtik and Aytaç Ünsal were not released despite a Forensic Medical report indicating that "they were not in a state to stay in prison." Shortly afterwards, they were taken to two separate hospitals on July 30.

An objection was lodged against the ruling of the İstanbul 37th Heavy Penal Court, which ruled that death-fasting lawyers should remain behind bars.

However, the court rejected this objection, saying: "Considering that the ruling of continued arrest given for defendant Ebru Timtik and defendant Aytaç Ünsal on July 30, 2020 is in compliance with due process and the law, there is nothing to rectify in the ruling, the objection has been rejected..."

The objection to the rejection has been rejected as well.

An application was made to the Constitutional Court for arrested lawyers Timtik and Ünsal on August 10, 2020.

The application to the supreme court noted that "while they should have been released based on the reports prepared by the Forensic Medicine Institution, they were unjustly and unlawfully arrested and their health conditions were deteriorating in hospital conditions where they were held."

Within this context, the attorneys of Ünsal and Timtik requested that the Constitutional Court write an official letter to the local court, ordering the release of arrested lawyers as a precaution.

Rejecting death fasting lawyers' request for release, the Constitutional Court neither examined the medical reports nor their statements on not being treated at hospital. "There is no serious danger posed to their material or immaterial integrity," it has concluded.

On a death fast for 235 days as of today (August 24), Ebru Timtik is currently held in Dr. Sadi Konuk Training and Research Hospital in İstanbul. On a death fast for 202 days, Aytaç Ünsal is in Kanuni Sultan Süleyman Training and Research Hospital, which is also in İstanbul.

Both hospitals are pandemic hospitals. (AS/SD)