Released after months of hunger strike, Gökhan Yıldırım in prison again

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Having conducted a hunger strike for months demanding a fair trial, Gökhan Yıldırım was released from prison in September. However, he was arrested again in November.

A judgeship of penal enforcement accepted a request for the release of Gökhan Yıldırım. However, a court has ruled that he should remain in prison for "public security."

Yıldırım started his hunger strike on December 25, 2021, at Tekirdağ No. 1 Type-F Prison. He ended the strike after the enforcement of his sentence was postponed on September 5. However, a decision for the postponement was lifted on November 22. He was arrested again and put in the Silivri Prison on the outskirts of İstanbul.

His attorneys appealed the decision, which was accepted by the judgeship of penal enforcement. However, the Tekirdağ Prosecutor's Office appealed the decision on the same day. The Tekirdağ 1st Heavy Penal Court accepted the appeal on November 29.

"Court ignored the appeal"

The People's Law Bureau (HHB) yesterday (December 1) filed an individual application with the Constitutional Court, demanding Yıldırım's release.

Releasing a statement about the issue, the HHB said the heavy penal court had announced a ruling without taking into account their appeal.

The court's decision cited "an abstract suspicion of escape" and "intelligence information" in its ruling, the HHB noted, adding, "The court claimed that Gökhan Yıldırım's statements after being released were terror propaganda. However, there is no investigation against Gökhan Yıldırım for terror propaganda."

Gökhan Yıldırım, 35, had been sentenced to 46.5 years in prison and pay an administrative fine of 1,800 lira for "being a member of an illegal organization, seizing transport vehicles, willful injury, violation of house immunity, damage to property, threat, damage to public property, possessing an unlicensed weapon, and forgery of official documents."(AS/VK)