AMED - The guards raided the cell where Gülistan Al is held in Kayseri Bünyan Prison and confiscated her books, notebooks and pens. Al's mother, Emine Al, stated that she could not see her daughter even though she had surgery during this period, and said: "If we get sick or something happens to us, neither we nor she can hear from us."

 

Gülistan Al (30), who is held in Kayseri Bünyan Women's Closed Prison, called her family on March 6 and told them that her room was raided by the guards and her books, notebooks and pens were confiscated. Al, who learned that her mother had undergone surgery during the phone call, was not given the right to a phone call after this call.

 

Mother Emine Al, who was discharged after the surgery, reacted to the rights violations her daughter experienced.

 

SHE SEES GULISTAN ONCE A YEAR

 

Mother Al, who said that her daughter, who is imprisoned for 7 years, is held in a cell, stated that she can only go to visit once a year due to economic reasons and health problems. Al said: “Wednesday was phone call day. I was sick and was taken into surgery before my daughter called. She called me while I was in surgery, asked about me, they told me that I was in surgery, and she told me what happened and said that they had taken his books, pens and notebooks, and I couldn't talk because I was in surgery." 

 

Stating that the prison administration did not allow her daughter to call again to get information about her health condition, Al said: “She told her friend that she wanted to hear from me, her friend told her family, her family called and I informed her about my situation. Doesn't my daughter have the right to talk to me? If we get sick or something happens to us, neither we can hear from her nor she can hear from us. When she talks, her phone is cut off. We can't talk properly and listen to her problems.”

 

Stating that she took part in the Justice Watch launched for the freedom of PKK Leader Abdullah Ocalan and the democratic solution to the Kurdish issue, Al said: “Our children are in prison, but it is as if we are in prison too, we cannot travel as we wish, we cannot sit at home. Mr. Abdullah Ocalan is in prison for the Kurds, and since there is isolation on him, there is also isolation on our children and us. Since his family's lawyers were not allowed to meet with Abdullah Ocalan, our children are on hunger strike. The isolation on Abdullah Ocalan must be abolished."

 

ABOUT GULISTAN AL

 

Gülistan Al was born in 1992 in the rural neighborhood of Terbil (Kırmatepe) in Çermûk (Çermik) district of Amed. She went primary school in her village and secondary school in Kepez district of Antalya, where she moved with her family. She was arrested while she was studying in the Marketing Department at Malatya Inönü University. She stayed in Malatya Prison for 4 months and was released. She was arrested again in Adana in 2016. In 2017, she was sentenced to aggravated life imprisonment for "disrupt the unity of the state and territorial integrity of the state". Al is currently imprisoned in Kayseri Bünyan Women's Closed Prison.