Turkish authorities did not allow the jailed daughter of sick prisoner İbrahim Güngör, who died in prison on September 7, to attend his funeral.
His daughter, Sueda Güngör, a university student, had been arrested in June 2025 for alleged ties to the Gülen movement. She had campaigned for her father’s release, but later faced charges similar to those for which he was convicted.
Together with other family members, Sueda asked many times for her father’s release because of his poor health. These requests were rejected. İbrahim Güngör was 72 years old and suffered from Alzheimer’s and diabetes. In the weeks before his death, he was hospitalised several times. At the end of August 2025, he was taken to İzmir City Hospital with respiratory complaints and a high fever. He was treated in intensive care but was soon sent back to prison, even though his health was still very bad.
He had been sentenced to more than eight years and had been in prison since December 2024.
In April 2025, Turkey’s Council of Forensic Medicine (ATK) decided that he was “fit to stay in prison.” This institution is often criticised because its reports usually support keeping sick prisoners in jail. Human rights groups say the ATK lacks independence and helps worsen the situation of political prisoners.
According to the Turkish penal code No. 5275, a prison sentence can be suspended if a prisoner’s health is very poor and they cannot take care of themselves. However, this law is often not applied in practice.
Rights Defenders Initiative (RDI) had already spoken about İbrahim Güngör in January 2025 in this link: https://rightsdefenders.org/enduring-injustice-the-ordeal-of-alzheimers-patient-ibrahim-gungor-in-turkish-prison/
We asked Turkish authorities to follow the law and protect the dignity and rights of all prisoners. We warned them that keeping sick people like İbrahim Güngör in jail was against human rights. But no action was taken. Sadly, he was only released in a coffin, nine months after our call.
We strongly condemn the Turkish authorities for failing to act on time. Once again, we call on them to respect international humanitarian law. We also urge the international community to hold Turkey accountable for the deaths of vulnerable prisoners in Turkish jails.
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