Campaign for hungerstriking prisoners continues

Also during the weekend of 28–29 March, hundreds of people showed their support for the political prisoners on indefinite hunger strike in Turkey by taking part in a one-day solidarity hunger strike and by sending emails to the Turkish Ministry of Justice and the high-security prison in Antalya.

A total of 438 people in various cities across ten countries took part in a one-day solidarity hunger strike on 28 March to draw attention to Tahsin Sagaltici and Gürkan Türkoglu’s indefinite hunger strike, which has been ongoing for 245 days.

These are the countries where people joined the hunger strike:

Great Britain: 24 Switzerland: 18 Scandinavia: 75 Germany: 6 Austria: 44 France: 44 Greece. 204 Belgium: 13 Moskow: 1 Netherlands. 9

Dozens of emails were sent again to the Ministry of Justice and the High Security Prison in Antalya, where Tahsin Sagaltici, Gürkan Türkoglu and Hüseyin Özen are continuing their hunger strike in protest to pit-type isolation prisons.

The letter also mentioned that Tuğçenur Özbay, a political prisoner at Şakran Women’s Closed Prison, is on an indefinite hunger strike to protest the imposition of a “prisoner ID card”, which she considers as an attack to human dignity.

Translated example of a letter sent to the Ministry of Justice in Turkey:

To the Justice Minister Akin Gürlek,

Tahsin Sağaltıcı, Gürkan Türkoğlu and Hüseyin Özen, political prisoners at Antalya High-Security Prison, are on an indefinite hunger strike demanding the closure of high-security prisons and their transfer to a non-high-security prison closer to their families.

At Şakran Women’s Closed Prison, Tuğçenur Özbay is also on an indefinite hunger strike in protest against being forced to wear an identification tag.

You (Akın Gürlek) are personally responsible for whatever happens to the political prisoners.