ISTANBUL – Çetin Arkaş’s release was postponed for 3 months by the Prison Administration and Observation Board. The Lawyers for Freedom Association (ÖHD) held a press conference, calling the decision arbitrary and unlawful. Lawyer Rezan Sarıca asked, “How can the brotherhood law be built with such decisions?”
ÖHD Prison Commission member Berivan Bekçi stated that Arkaş has been imprisoned since 1992, serving a life sentence since 2015, and should have been released on June 16. However, the Board blocked his release citing reasons like “not attending meetings.” Bekçi called the decision “subjective and unlawful.”
HEALTH ISSUES AND ARBITRARY POSTPONEMENT
Arkaş suffers from goiter and heart disease. Bekçi said: “Arkaş, proven well-behaved by reports, faces a 3-month postponement decision as part of harsh punishment policies.”
“After 33 years and 4 months, why is his freedom still denied? Must one die to get out of prison?” Rezan Sarıca asked and stressed that arbitrary decisions cannot manage this process and these policies contradict the peace efforts.
CONCLUSION AND DEMANDS
An appeal process has started but no verdict yet. OHD demands the cancellation of the decision and Arkaş’s immediate release.