There is a tragic case going on in Erzincan F type prison. Hakan Yildirim has been in jail for the last 3 years during the purge lost his sanity.
SEVİNÇ ÖZARSLAN
BOLD- Another teacher lost his sanity in prison after English teacher Harun Karateke, who was diagnosed with schizophrenia and was taken to Bakırköy State Hospital with a diagnosis of bipolar disorder. 43 years old, Hakan Yıldırım, a 14-year physical education teacher who was arrested on August 15, 2016, is in serious mental health condition.
Having refused treatment, Hakan Yildirim approved the consent by signature to be sent back to the prison, thus he is not diagnosed yet. Because he called his doctors insane, he was not treated. Hakan is in serious health conditions now despite his signature.
-He asked his wife to do a DNA test for his children because he is suspect of everything,
– He doesn’t talk anybody in prison. He has a fear that they will put poison in his food
-His friends inward wrote a petition that they are afraid of their own life with him.
-He hit his wife during the prison visit. He attacked his friends and his lawyer
-In one of non-contact visits, he smacked his body and head in the wall and hurt his head bleeding
– He often experiences hallucinations and delusions
Hakan Yildirim was sentenced 6 years and 3 months by the judge who asked him “you are their man, why don’t you have bylock.” His sentence was swiftly approved by the supreme court. After this shock, Yildirim could not take it anymore the worsening life in Jail.
His wife B. Yildirim, who has been struggling with this tragedy by herself alone for 3 years is more sorrowful. “I haven’t made my voice heard in years. I do not expect to have a family anymore, my husband will kill me and our children under this psychology, ”said B. Yildirim.
She said “What we experience seems unreal to everybody. My husband is becoming insane inside. He became schizophrenic there and I am paranoid outside. I call out government officials that my husband needs urgent treatment. Please release him from the jail immediately”
MY HUSBAND İS SCHİZOPHRENİC
I am a teacher of philosophy. My husband is a physical education teacher. We were both graduated from Ataturk University. We met while we were studying and decided to get married. We’ve been married for 10 years. We lived in Ağrı. My husband Hakan Yıldırım was arrested on 15 August 2016 and sent to Ağrı Prison and then to Erzincan T Type Closed Prison. In the beginning, there were 22 people in the 10-person capacity ward. Now I don’t know the number of prisoners in his ward. My husband doesn’t have a medical certificate, but he is schizophrenic now.
BECAUSE OF TWO BOXES OF BOOKS
My husband was working in a college in Eskisehir. Later, we moved and settled in Agri city when we found the job there. After December 17/25 infamous graft probe, I told my husband that not bring any publication to home that could get us in trouble.
I lowheartedly had him burnt all the books and newspapers we had in house. We have two daughters. I didn’t want something bad to happen to them and my family. One day, my husband had a discount on from NT book store. He came home with two full of books. We argued over it again. I told him again that I certainly didn’t want to have in my house from NT bookstore.
Then we purchased a house. The books were in the box in front of the door. We never opened it. Me and Hakan talked nicely over it. He accepted my offer to return books to NT. NT agreed to have books back. A friend of mine visited me in those days. She wanted to have books. So, we gave it to her. It turned out her husband did not anything about the books. He was not aware of the books.
Later, when they moved into a new house, her husband finds the books and got in panic. He takes the books and gave the bus to his wife in their city. That’s when the assistant of the bus driver suspects the man with two boxes, he calls the police to check the boxes, the police opened it and found the books. After that, my friend called me and said: “they found the books and arrested my husband.”
I was so upset. I told her to explain to them what exactly happened. When I said so. They slandered Hakan with their own fabricated story “After 15 July, Hakan Yildirim came to us with fear and left the books in my house in panic” They changed the in a way that the books were given them after the coup for this and other made-up accusations, they arrested my husband. He is also under arrest for witness testimony, canceling his Digiturk subscription and being 14 years college teacher. In June 2017, he was sentenced 6 years and 3 months.
JUDGE: WHY DON’T YOU HAVE BYLOCK!
My husband was well in the first 10 months in prison. I lost 12 pounds in the process due to anxiety. I’m muscle hypertrophy. We were expecting him to be acquitted. The last hearing was held on June 5, 2017. It was a day of Ramadan (Fasting Month). During the hearing his charges were not changed, he was arrested because our friend’s wife repeated her statement about him in the same way. The judge didn’t even read the verdict directly to my husband. Judge kept saying to my husband “Why don’t you have Bylock!. My husband responded that “I found out that there is such software like Bylock inside the prison. I had never used it. He again said ’You have been their man for 14 years, why you don’t have Bylock”
HİS HEALT DETERİORATES AFTER COURT HEARING
In 1998, my husband studied in a private university preparatory course. They concluded and justified the decision that he has been a member of a terrorist organization since 1998. My husband’s health began deteriorating after the last court hearing. After the court decision, I wrote a petition to the Prosecutor’s Office requesting that I want my husband`s phone calls to be listened to by psychologists. I’m a teacher of psychology, I know my husband has been changed, he became someone else’
They considered my petition; his telephone calls were transcribed and they were convinced that he was sick. In November 2017, they have dispatched him to Elazığ Psychiatric Hospital. However, because he did not accept the treatment and said ‘I am not crazy’ the doctors at the hospital had him signed ad resent him back to prison. I talked to parliament members. Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu, who is also a doctor about my one on one conversation with my husband. He said it exactly signs of being paranoid’ Since we don’t have any official documents, we can’t do anything at this stage. He said.
HE HIT ME DURING ONE OF VISITS
My husband started blaming me for everything. He told me that this is a sort of scenario I made for him. He hit me during one of the prison visits. They banned visits for two months. He hit me, insulted me but I visited him again. I did not want to leave him alone there. He had never hit me during our 14 years marriage In December 2017, he was sent to Erzincan Prison from Ağrı. I wrote a lot of petitions to the management of the prison there to take him to the doctor, and then he got angrier with me saying that “You’re trying to lock me in the mental hospital, you’re trying to drive me crazy.’ Then they took him to the hospital by force. In Hospital, Doctor says what’s wrong with you? He responds that he is fine. He doesn’t consider himself as a patient anyway. The doctor reports that it will be better if he is in prison. No clinical trials or no tests made on him. Mr. Gergerlioglu, later met with his doctor to find out what is going on, the doctor tells him that they can’t force patients if they don’t want to be treated, especially to the prisoners. They’re right.
We requested from our lawyer if he could go through forensic examination. For this, Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu called the General Directorate of Prisons in Ankara. They said there are forensics reports available in such cases. But he did not want to go to a hospital, thus he was not being examined or treated in a full-fledged hospital. Although he was taken to Erzincan Mengücek State Gazi and Education Hospital and Elazig psychiatric hospital, no diagnosis was made because he said he was completely fine. We are stuck to have this report, we don’t know where and how are all questions in the air.
HE WANTED DNA TEST FOR OUR DAUGHTERS
My husband hasn’t accepted in two months for a visit. One of our last visits, he said “why Zehra our oldest daughter doesn’t look like me. He said he wants a DNA test for her. I said if you want, we can have a DNA test for the little one as well. Then he said, I will not handle it if the test comes out true so he changed his mind. He’s always suspicious about everything and constantly afraid of what he suspects is right.
He never drinks tea if he did not make it. He doesn’t talk to anybody. On our visit, everybody watches us see if he is going to hit me again or wonders if we are going to cry again. Others welcome their wife in love and respect, on the contrary, we cry on our way back home. We sometimes leave early before the visit session out. Whatever he does, he thinks he tries to take the devil out inside him. He experiences hallucinations and delusions. Once, when I was sitting with him, he said: “look there are men in black walking by.” I am so tired of listening to him…
I thought nobody saw when he hit me after that, I ran to my car. I was not crying. His parents were there. My father-in-law held my hand and said Dear Betul, I would not stop you if you want to leave. All I could say “Father, that place is very tight, that’s why he is acting like that otherwise he would not have done it such thing.
My husband called me from the prison in that week after the fight he went on insulting me, he said, what kind of women am I, I said what happened, what have I done? He said why did I report to the prison management that he hit me. I said that would be the last thing that I would ever do. The management of the prison shows him the camera footage that he hit me.
UNDER THIS PSYCHOLOGY HE WILL KILL ME AND MY CHILDREN
I am dealing with this tragedy alone by myself. I keep my hope and wish that Hakan will be getting out of jail, would come home but it seems very difficult. I don’t have a dream for a future with him, I am thinking of death. Hakan would not leave us alive. I know that he would do that. He was someone with the highest compassionate, he would not even hurt anything. May God bless him. He doesn’t want to stay in prison, prison management is well aware of that.
HE SMACKED HIMSELF TO THE WALLS
In a non-contact visit, Hakan threw himself into the wall like a ball made his nose bleeding. Non-contact rooms are like fitting rooms, like locker booth. In there, he slammed his head against the walls shouting “get me out of here” At that moment, a man in a white shirt entered the room with many guards. Because his phone is tapped and they have surveillance on him. They knew that Hakan is not well. Two blocks away, there is a room of psychologist for urgent treatment. One guard said, ‘I do believe that this man is ill, however, nobody did anything and took responsibility to take care of him.
HIS FRIENDS INWARD: WE ARE WORRIED ABOUT OUR LIFE
When he physically attacked his lawyer and a couple of people around, his friends in Agri (Eastern Province) second high criminal court wrote a petition to draw management attention to the Hakan, saying they were worried about their life and Hakan’s life.
In the beginning, he said, “come to visit me despite my anger” I know I hurt people when I talk. Well, he no longer wants to see me. He could not handle the slander. He made up a paranoid accusation for me due to his mental health condition. His parents pay a visit to him. The last time I saw him was 2 July 2019. I did not go to visit the session on 2 August 2019. He sent me a message that if I go, he would hit me again. He said a couple of stuff that when he sees me, he freaks out, he loses his faith. As a wife and husband, we have never experienced such things in our 14 years marriage. All we had was to
HE REFUES FOOD FEARING THERE WILL BE POISOIN IN IT
I talked to one of his friends who was recently released. He was a lawyer. He told me that, “I slept facing Hakan for 8 months. I said you did this because you were you afraid of him” he said “no. If I could turn my back, I knew he would be offended thus I did not want to offend him. Thank God that there were so many sensitive people around him. Was not he ill? I asked He said, unfortunately, yes” I don’t know what he is doing now but he would not eat food fearing that there will be poison in it. To be sure of the food, he buys canned fish, open the lid by himself.
Supreme court rejects our Applications
HE WAS THE FIRST TEACHER THAT HIS CHARGES WERE APPROVED
First, they put him on trial, afterward, charges were approved by the high court immediately. The Supreme court rejected our appeal. Now we are applying to European courts of human rights. He has suspicions about that too. He questions it saying who am I and why the process is moving quickly. I told him, we could have a good result from the ECHR, he even questioned that, he told me that I was making up, it made me happy if he is weak. He thinks whatever we do we try to make him special.
In his ward, there are doctors and psychologists. They all told their wives to reach me to take Hakan out as early as possible and reach anyone who could help. This is what I can do. I got married to him because I loved him. I don’t have an affiliation with Hizmet movement but this is what we are undergoing.
WE RANT OUT OF THE OPTIONS
He is now in Erzincan’s prison but he doesn’t believe that he is there. I have been going back and forth to visit him from Agri to Erzincan, he thinks that I deceive him. He told his friends in his ward he shares with them that “how come this woman visit me every week, she doesn’t love me, she can’t come to see me all long way. I feel sorry for his friends that they have to convince Hakan that things are true that he doesn’t believe happing.
The Supreme court rejected our application. All doors are closed for my husband to seek justice in Turkey. We are applying for ECHR. He doesn’t believe that we will have a good result so he doesn’t sign the applications. Manager of the Prison told him “ you lost your hope that you will be getting out of here” how come he would say this to a person with such illness.