85-Year-Old Ill Prisoner Bingöl Released

Click to read the article in Turkish / Kurdish

Sise Bingöl, an 85-year-old ill prisoner who has been behind bars since 2017, was released yesterday (March 4).

Bingöl has been released on parole because the execution of her sentence is completed. She was sentenced to 4 years, 2 months in prison for "knowingly and willingly aiding a terrorist organization."

Bingöl's attorney Gülşen Özbek told the Mezopotamya Agency that she was first transferred to the Karataş Open Prison, and then released.

Bingöl was 'taken to hospital every other day'

Journalist Zehra Doğan, who was imprisoned at the same ward with Sise Bingöl, spoke to bianet on her health condition after being released on February 24:

"Grandma Sise is taken to see a doctor once in two days. They hospitalize her for two days. Then, she is discharged from hospital and taken to prison again. Her condition of health is very bad.

"The director of the prison brought her one of those armchairs used in workplaces and offices so that she could sit more comfortably. In response, Grandma Sise said, 'Look, did you see, they will not release me, that is why they have given me this armchair so that I can sit comfortably.'

"Though her condition of health is very bad, she still says 'I will stand upright on my feet.' She wanted me to convey this message to everyone."

What happened?

Sise Bingöl was arrested in Varto district of Muş province in 2016. After two-and-a-half months of arrest, she was released in the first hearing.

After a prison sentence of 4 years and 2 months was approved by the Erzurum Regional Court of Appeal, she was arrested again in April 2017 and put in prison.

Bingöl needed to be kept under constant checkup because of her disorders related to heart, blood pressure, lung, and uterus. She also had a heart attack one month before she went to prison.

Yet the Tarsus State Hospital's report stated that staying in prison does not pose a life-threatening situation for Bingöl.

She was first put into Muş Type E Prison, then sent to the Tarsus Type T Prison in southern Mersin province, roughly 900km afar from Muş. Bingöl's family was not informed of her transfer.

Mersin University Health Research And Application Center stated in its report on November 2, 2018 that staying in prison poses a life-threatening risk for Bingöl.

İstanbul Institution of Forensic Medicine, however, released a report on January 23, saying that Bingöl is "making efforts to make herself look in a bad situation."

Bingöl's attorneys stated that the Institution of Forensic Medicine was not able to conduct most of the psychometric tests because Bingöl does not speak Turkish.

(HK/VK)