The problem of ill prisoners is growing day by day. Hundreds of ill prisoners in prisons are waiting to be released for access to health care. The condition of Salman Akpinar, who has asthma, reflux and ulcer diseases and has difficulty walking, remains serious. 

 

Salman Akpinar was taken into custody after a municipality bus was set on fire with Molotov cocktails on 8 November 2009 in Kucukcekmece district of Istanbul. Akpinar, who was a distributor of the daily Ozgur Gundem at the time, was arrested by the court.  

 

Akpinar was sentenced to two times aggravated life imprisonment on the charges of “disrupt the unity and territorial integrity of the state” and “committing an act of grave seriousness with the aim of separating a part of the country's territory from the state administration”. While there was no concrete evidence for the sentence, the court took into account the testimonies of secret witnesses. The verdict was upheld by the Court of Cassation in 2012 and Akpinar, who has been under arrest since 2009, is currently being held in Izmir Buca F-type Prison.

 

Akpinar's lawyer Huseyin Bogatekin filed a petition for retrial and release, citing former Interior Minister Idris Naim Sahin's statements to a newspaper that the incident was carried out by National Intelligence Service (MIT). 

“What happened to my clients is not ‘fate’ but ‘fiction and scenario’. We demand from your honourable court not a simple ‘Pardon’, but a fair retrial with a stay of execution and a release order,” lawyer said. 

 

While Bogatekin's request for retrial was rejected, Akpinar was sentenced based on secret witness statements. Finally, on 4 February 2025, Peoples' Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party Colemêrg (Hakkari) MP Oznur Bartin submitted a parliamentary question to the Ministry of Justice about Akpinar. 

 

‘HE HAD AN OPERATION ON HIS LEGS AND HAS STOMACH PROBLEMS’

 

Kocer Akpinar, the mother of ill prisoner Salman Akpinar who lives in Istanbul, spoke about his condition.

 

Kocer Akpinar said, “We want the prisoners to be released. They are staying in prison in vain. They have diseases. He cannot eat or sleep. He is always hungry. The food he would eat at once, he can only eat a few times. They take my son to and from the hospital. He never gets better. On the other hand, he is also operated on his legs. They performed an endoscopy and the analyses did not come out clean.”

  

Kocer Akpinar said that his son was previously held in Metris R-Type Prison in Istanbul and then he was taken to Izmir Buca F-Type Closed Prison and added, “He was taken to Izmir for about 3 years. We do not know why he was taken there. When I heard that he was taken there, it was as if he was arrested again. Because the road is very far. We do not have a car and we do not have the power to buy one. We are disgraced on the roads until we get there and back. We want him to be brought to Istanbul. I am also ill and I am ruined until I go back and forth.”

  

Kocer Akpinar called for the release of his son and ill prisoners and said, “They have taken them hostage. Once every 2 weeks we can only talk to Salman for 10 minutes. We can say ‘How are you? Are you OK? The phone switches off. When we talk to him, he tells us that he is not well and cannot eat. Maybe they will do an endoscopy again. He has a lot of pain. He doesn't tell me much because he thinks I will get upset. We do not give up hope in God.”

 

Kocer Akpinar added: “Many young people burned in prisons. They charge for electricity and food in prisons. We received a paper at least 10 times. We currently owe about 50 thousand liras for food. They say sign the paper and ‘pay’ the money. But I did not sign it because we have no money. Let them leave our children, we don't want their food. They shamelessly ask us for food money. If we had the power, I would have hired a car and gone to see my son. The prisons are full, let them release our children. How long will this continue? Prisons should be emptied and everyone should come to their mothers and relatives.” 

 

MA / Omer Ibrahimoglu