DİYARBAKIR - Zahide Batu, mother of Hogir Batu who went on a hunger strike 37 days ago against strip searches and ill treatment in prison, told thats she is very concerned and she wants these practices to end.

 

Hogir Batu, who was arrested during the curfews declared during the self-governance resistance in the Nusaybin district of Mardin and sentenced to aggravated life imprisonment in the Nusaybin Case was transferred from Diyarbakır No. 1 High Security Prison to Iğdır Type S Closed Prison on December 23 . Batu went on a hunger strike on December 24, 2021, against the strip search he was exposed to here. Batu was kept in a padded cell for hours and battered by the guards on the 4th day of the hunger strike.

 

Batu's family and lawyer applied to human's rights associations and organizations such as the Human Rights Association (İHD), the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (TİHV), the Parliamentary Human Rights Commission, the Diyarbakır Bar Association and the CPT. The family and lawyers are also preparing to apply to the Ministry of Justice.

 

STRIP SEARCH

 

Batu's mother, Zahide Batu, visited sit-in in Diyarbakır Bar Association on January 27, and demanded that her son's demands be met. Condemning the fact that her son was exiled to a distant prison, Batu told that she can't visit her son there due to economic difficulties. Underlining that her son was tortured, Batu said: "Me and my daughter visited him. They did not allow us to see him at the same time. I went in first. There were two guards with me. I couldn't properly speak to my son with them in the room. I had only 15 minutes to see him. He told me he was subjected to strip search, that his hands and feet were handcuffed and he was battered, and repeated that he wants his demands to be met."

 

THE THREAT OF THE GUARDIAN  

 

Stating that her son is on the 37th day of the hunger strike, Batu said: "I don't want him to die in prison. I can't just sit home. I think about him day and night. They don't have the right to torture prisoners. I stand with my son."

 

Pointing out that her son was exiled from prison to prison and this one is the 4th prison in 6 years, Batu told that he was subjected to violations of rights in all of them. One of the guards knocked on his door and asked if he had killed himself yet. He answered that he won't ever kill himself. They are threatening and intimidating my son."