Turkey: "Incidents in the prisons"

[ozgurluk at xs4all.nl]

   1 April 1998
 Incidents in the prisons

 * An armed clash in Bayrampasa Prison has left one dead and two
 injured. Prisoners in Umraniye Prison and in Ankara Closed Prison
 have taken their prison directors and the wardens hostage

 _________________________________________________________________

 Istanbul - Turkish Daily News

 Bayrampasa Prison has returned to the old days now that the "magic
 prosecutor," Necati Ozdemir, has been removed from his position. For
 nearly two years the prison had been quiet. But Monday evening saw a
 return of the violence as gunfire echoed through the ward in which
 ultranationalist mafia members were being held. Fatih Iscan, one of
 the prisoners under arrest for drug smuggling, died of bullet wounds.
 Fatih Bayata and Siddik Gunduz, underlings of Alaattin Cakici, the
 internationally wanted killer and drug smuggler, were wounded.

 The incident occurred on Monday evening when ultranationalist members
 quartered in the same ward began quarreling for unknown reasons. The
 prisoners then drew weapons they had smuggled into with them and
 turned the ward into a pool of blood. Other prisoners hid under their
 beds during the incident in an attempt to save themselves. Iscan was
 the only fatality.

 Fatih Bayata, who was wounded in the leg, is at the center of the
 investigation for ambushing Cakici's former partner, Tevfik Agansoy.
 Siddik Gunduz, also wounded during the incident, was taken to hospital
 for a stomach wound. Security forces entered soon after to prevent the
 incident from escalating.

 In another incident, leftist prisoners at Istanbul's Umraniye Prison
 took the prison guards hostage, in protest over a decision to transfer
 ten of members of the Revolutionary Peoples' Liberation Party - Front
 (DHKP-C) held in Buca Closed Prison to other facilities. Among those
 taken prisoner was the deputy director of the prison, Nedim Dogan, and
 ten guards. While police and gendarmerie forces stepped up security in
 front of Umraniye Prison, no definitive course of action had been
 decided upon as we go to press. Fears have been expressed that if the
 security forces attacked, a bloodbath would ensue.

 At Ankara Central Closed Prison, the director and three wardens are
 being held hostage at the present time, and unrest is reported at
 Canakkale, Sakarya and Bergama Prisons.

 Meanwhile, the protest action of 75 prisoners in Izmir's Buca Prison,
 arrested for being members of illegal leftist organizations, are
 continuing. The protest started yesterday to protest transfer of 10
 prisoners to other prisons. The prisoners had reportedly formed
 barricades in front of the gates to prevent the intervention by
 security forces.

 Officials have stated that they will make no concessions for the
 protesting prisoners, and meeting any of their demands was out of
 question. Minister of Justice Oltan Sungurlu said that Buca prison was
 not appropriate for convicted prisoners. Sungurlu stated that members
 of illegal leftist organization continue their actions in Buca,
 Bergama, Bayrampasa, Ulucanlar and Umraniye prisons with hostages
 taken only in Umraniye and Bergama prisons. Sungurlu said "I was told
 that the prisoners will end their action and release the hostages if
 their comrades are delivered to their destinations unharmed."

 Some illegal leftist organization members have also rebelled in
 Canakkale prison. There, prisoners have formed barriers in the
 corridors to prevent guards from taking action. Meanwhile, general
 chairman of Contemporary Law Experts' Association stated that he had
 met with rebellious prisoners and that he would convey the prisoners
 demands to the Ministry of Justice.

-- 
Press Agency Ozgurluk
For justice, democracy and human rights in Turkey and Kurdistan!
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