Prisoner journalist Ahmet Altan asked the doors of the prisoners’ wards to the courtyard to be unlocked for emergency after the recent Istanbul earthquake. The administration rejected the request by saying “the doors only open with the permission of the minister”.
BOLD – Silivri Prison inmates had to have troublesome night after the 5.8 magnitude Istanbul earthquake. While all the people of Istanbul spent the night in the streets, Silivri prisoners were not allowed to go to the prison’s courtyard. CHP Eskişehir Deputy Utku Çakırözer visited CHP former MP Eren Erdem, journalist Ahmet Altan and businessman Osman Kavala in Silivri Prison.
Cakirozer told what happened in the Silivri prison, which is close to the epicenter of the earthquake, during that day with 22 thousand 700 prisoners and convicts and about 500 recruits. Eren Erdem told him that, neither the Ministry of Justice nor the prison administration has any preparation for what should be done in the earthquake, he said.
OPENS ONLY WITH THE PERMISSION OF THE MINISTER
According to Çakırözer, Ahmet Altan stated that the prisoners experienced the earthquake in the courtyard and felt the earthquake severely. Altan asked the doors of the prisoners’ wards to the courtyard to be unlocked for emergency for the following night, but the prison administration rejected the request by saying “the doors only open with the permission of the minister”.
Çakırözer, “While all the people of Istanbul spent the night at the streets with fear, Silivri Prison ward doors remained locked under the pretext of the Minister,” he said. Cakirozer also said that; businessman Osman Kavala also told him that he felt the earthquake severely.