DİYARBAKIR - Stating that seriously ill prisoner Mehmet Emin Özkan is in critical condition, HDP Group Deputy Chair Merak Danış Beştaş said, Özkan told her he was always in handcuffs.

 

83-year-old sick prisoner Mehmet Emin Özkan, being held in Diyarbakır Type D Prison who is not released despite he is seriously ill, has been hospitalized 6 times since May 17. The footage that shows Özkan brought to Gazi Yaşargil Training and Research Hospital on May 25 in handcufss, having a hard time walking, caused public outcry. Özkan who was held in the hospital 3 days handcuffed to the bed, was taken back to prison. 

 

Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Group Deputy Chairperson Meral Danış Beştaş met with Özkan in Diyarbakır Type D Closed Prison today. Speaking to Mesopotamia Agency (MA) about her 20 minute long meeting with Özkan, Beştaş underlined that Özkan is in critical condition and said: "He looked like he should be in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). He looked like he was about to die."

 

HE IS HANDCUFFED 24/7

 

Pointing out that she saw Özkan in the infirmary and that he was brought to the infirmary with a wheelchair, Beştaş said he looked really sick and he was having a hard time speaking. Beştaş said: "He said he is on some medication and the drugs are very heavy. He said he is having trouble with his memory due to the drugs and he was taken to the infirmary everytime he was taken to the hospital. Özkan told that he was handcuffed at all times, even when he was in bed."

 

'I SAW IT FOR MYSELF'

 

Stating that she saw the things written in press was real for herself when she met him, Beştaş said: "I couldn't get him to talk too long because he was in a really bad condition. He said they were going to take him to the hospital again today. He was in a wheelchair but he was having a hard time. He was very fragile. He looked like he should be in the ICU. He looked like a person who is about to die. He told that he has a friend in his ward who took care of him but I couldn't learn his name. He said that friend was helping him but he wasn't able to take a bath. He told that his diet was very bad in prison which causes him to get worse."

 

'HE WAS IN PAIN'  

 

Pointing out that Özkan has been following the news made about him, Beştaş said: "To be honest, I felt terrible speaking to him, but I tried not to reflect on him. He was trying to be strong while he was speaking to me. It was obvious that he was in constant pain. Phsycally and psychologically. When I said I would see him outside, he waved his hand. The gesture showed me that he did not have any hope about it."

 

 

MA / Ergin Çağlar