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Imprisoned journalist Çümen: Ban on visits turned into torture

Journalist Harun Çümen, who has been detained for nearly 2.5 years, has rebelled that there is no contact visitation for 5 months due to coronavirus, and that the non-contact visits are  limited to one visitor: ‘I cannot see my children or hug them. I live in prison, turned into a complete torture ”

According to the news of Yavuz Genç from Kronos, the former Responsible Editor of the Zaman newspaper Harun Çümen, who was detained in the Balıkesir L Type Closed Prison rebelled that has been unable to hold contact-visitation for 5 months due to coronavirus measures and the visits were limited to only one person.

“I CANNOT TOUCH AND HOLD TO MY CHILDREN FOR FOUR MONTHS”

“The coronavirus hit us the most,” wrote Harun Çümen, who noted that the already difficult prison conditions were getting harder due to coronavirus measures. “I can’t see my children for four months, I can’t touch them, I can’t hug them,” said Çümen, who said that a non-contact visit  with only one person last June will continue in July. Çümen said, “It will be five months, 150 days away from my children. Apart from that, we have not seen the doctor’s face for 4 months. I was injured from my knee while doing sports before Ramadan. I could not step on my left foot, it took 3 weeks. I could not walk, I performed the prayers by sitting. I had a hard time taking the ablution in the bathroom. It was a complete torture. “There is no referral to the hospital, except for the risk of death.”

“PEOPLE SWARM THE STREETS, EXTENDED MEASURES ARE APPLIED SOLELY ON US”

Stating that the prison conditions are getting heavier with the pandemic, journalist Harun Çümen continued as follows: “We used to go to the indoor sports field once a week and we could not go to it for 4 months. We can follow the newspapers one day behind. Some days in the weekends no newspapers are given. Incoming cargoes, our books are also given late. And many more negative aspects… The coronavirus process struck us most, the prisoners. We are not included in dismissal, this is what we experienced. I live in prison. It turned into a complete torture. It’s like hell. Our psychology turned upside down, it broke down. Started from all over the normalization of Turkey June 1, opening up everywhere, people swarm the streets. But only strict measures continue to be applied to us. Contact-visitation can be possible by taking measures. It is not impossible. Exaggerated, absurd measures are only applied to us. ”

 For the whole text of the news: https://kronos34.news/tr/tutuklu-gazeteci-harun-cumen-acik-gorus-yasagi-iskenceye-donustu-cocuklarima-sarilmak-istiyorum/

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