CHP's Şahbaz: 'Sick detainees unable to access healthcare must be able to reach medication and medical interventions as soon as possible'

Republican People's Party (CHP) Deputy Chair responsible for Health Policies, Dr. Zeliha Aksaz Şahbaz, issued a written press statement regarding the prison conditions of those arrested during protests against the detention of Ekrem İmamoğlu.

Aksaz Şahbaz's statement is as follows:

"More than 2,000 of our young people and citizens were detained while peacefully protesting in Saraçhane and various cities across our country, objecting to the unlawful detention of our Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM) Mayor and presidential candidate Ekrem İmamoğlu, our mayors, and employees, on charges that do not even carry a prison sentence. During this time, they were subjected to violence amounting to torture, including being sprayed with gas, beaten, forced to the ground with reverse handcuffs, and kept in detention vehicles for up to eight hours."

301 of our young people were arrested after being detained with heavy violence in an arbitrary and unlawful manner, simply because they exercised their constitutional rights, took to the streets peacefully to make their voices heard, and raised their voices for democracy and freedom.

During this period when our young people were unlawfully detained and subjected to torture, they were also left to face health problems that threaten their lives. Our young people, who were not given food or water for two days, could not change their wet clothes contaminated with toxic chemicals, and could not access healthcare or their medication, have experienced and continue to experience very serious human rights violations.

Currently, a family medicine system is implemented in prisons, and healthcare is provided during official working hours. For this reason, our detained young people and citizens face barriers to accessing medication and healthcare in prisons throughout the long holiday we are currently in. Consequently, there are very serious difficulties in the process of transferring sick inmates to hospitals.

According to the information we have obtained, at least thirty people among the detainees have health problems. Febrile flu infections are increasing in the wards, and requests to see a doctor are not being met. Furthermore, among the detainees, there are chronic illnesses requiring regular medication such as tuberculosis, epilepsy, asthma, bronchitis, and heart disease, as well as serious health problems such as trauma-related eye damage and bone fractures requiring emergency intervention. Necessary medical interventions are also being neglected for patients whose examinations are not performed and whose medications are either not provided at all or provided irregularly. Sick detainees who cannot access healthcare must be able to reach medication and medical interventions as soon as their necessary examinations are performed.

One of the most important indicators of the life-threatening risks in prisons is the situation of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Deputy Secretary General Mahir Polat, who is experiencing serious health problems due to his illnesses and faces a vital risk at any moment. Polat is someone who has previously undergone angiography multiple times and had stents placed in 6 of his vessels, and he is currently left to face health problems that threaten his life. Under the AKP government, even healthcare has turned into a tool of torture. The release of Mahir Polat, who is experiencing such severe health problems, is a requirement of justice and conscience.

Our detained young people who have classes and exams are also falling behind in their studies. We will not allow the future of our young people, who are the hope of this country, to be darkened. It is the duty of the state to provide access to healthcare and create healthy living conditions. Officials who do not fulfill their duties in this regard are committing a crime. As the Republican People's Party, we are closely following the problems of our young people and the human rights violations that have occurred. We will hold those responsible accountable.

No arbitrary arrest, no oppression will be able to stop this people's struggle for freedom. Today, we are standing together against this oppression. Our presidential candidate Ekrem İmamoğlu, our mayors, our fellow travelers, Mahir Polat, and all detained young people who have been unlawfully arrested must be released. This injustice, this oppression must come to an end."

News Source: 12punto