Mustafa Atalay was arrested in Turkey as a revolutionary democratic journalist in 1980 (translator's note: the year of the military coup) and he spent 20 years of his life in prison. He was subjected to torture. Later he asked for political asylum in Germany, which was accepted.

The 50-year old Mustafa Atalay received a bypass operation in Berlin on 19th October 2006 and on 15th November he was arrested by order of the Federal Public Prosecution at the rehabilitation clinic in Bad Bevensen, from where he was sent to the prison of Hannover.

Since then, Mustafa Atalay has been kept in a single isolation cell for 23 hours a day, and his health situation gets worse day by day. Now, almost seven months after the bypass operation, which was carried out in order to remove blockage of blood vessels to the heart, the university hospital again diagnosed that his cardiac blood vessels were congested. Even the prison doctor refuses to accept responsibility.

The cardiac congestion has appeared since his imprisonment. It is certain that his condition will worsen as long as he is in prison.

What kind of double standard is this?

The arrest of a German juvenile in Turkey had a wide resonance and there have been headlines in all the newspapers. Several persons and organisations, first of all the German state, demanded his release.

This happens while ill prisoners in Germany are locked in isolation cells and abandoned to death.

What is the German state trying to hide?

The university hospital in Hannover, prison staff members and the prison doctor say that Mustafa Atalay
should be receiving medical treatment in an ordinary hospital, but the German state is silently watching him dying!

The state ministries who prefer to be silent, above all the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office, will bear responsibility for any negative development in this matter.

We call on public opinion which values human rights, to support Mustafa Atalay in his efforts and to become active, in order to bring about the necessary steps.

Mustafa Atalay has to be released for hospital treatment immediately!

Tayad Committee
July 3, 2007

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Protest notes:


The Federal Public Prosecutor at the Federal Supreme Court
Brauerstrasse 30; 76135 Karlsruhe
Tel.: 0049 (0) 721 - 81 91 0; Fax: 0049 (0) 721 - 81 91 59 0
e-mail:  poststelle@generalbundesanwalt.de

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Address of Mustafa Atalay:

Mustafa Atalay
Schulenburger Landstraße 145
30165 Hannover
Germany


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Lawyer Dr. Heinz Jürgen Schneider
22769 Hamburg
Glücksburger Str. 8
Tel. ++49 (0) 40 8513116


Media information


In spite of congested heart bypasses, no interruption of detention for a Turkish prisoner with cardiac trouble (awaiting trial) in Hannover – No human rights for a "terrorist"? -

A lot of attention for a German citizen in a Turkish jail, but not in this case.

Since November 2006, my client Mustafa Atalay is on remand in Hannover Prison. He is accused of membership in a foreign terrorist association. There have been no formal charges brought against him, so before the law he is innocent.

At the time of his arrest, Mr. Atalay was in a rehabilitation clinic in Lower Saxony, after receiving a heart operation.

From there he was transferred to the prison in Hannover. Since then, he has been in severe isolation, without a second person in his cell and without knowledge of the German language.

His health is very poor, which is also the result of long-term detention and torture experiences as a political prisoner in Turkey. Besides his heart problems he also suffers from high blood pressure, post-traumatic disorders and diabetes.

During the last weeks the health situation of Mustafa Atalay has worsened sharply.

Two out of three bypass channels are congested. The prison doctor of Hannover Prison has denied further medical responsibility in a letter dated May 29, 2007.

His lawyers have requested that his imprisonment be interrupted and he should be transferred to an ordinary hospital. Mr Atalay has himself written (in English) to Chancellor Merkel, the Justice Minister of Lower Saxony and the Council of Europe Committee on the Prevention of Torture. Except for a check-up in the Hannover Medical Higher Education Institute, nothing has happened and he remains in prison.

"Security questions" should not get in the way of protecting health. Someone who is severely ill should receive the necessary medical care. Games should not be played with his life. Mustafa Atalay must be transferred to a hospital.

Everyone who has been deprived of their freedom should be treated in a humane way in conformity with their human dignity.

Art. 10 Para. 1 International Convention on Civil and Political Rights
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Letter from Mustafa Atalay to the public:

Dear ladies and gentlemen,

I am a prisoner in Hannover.
In Turkey I was subjected to torture in torture centres (also known as police headquarters) at the hands of police and soldiers. As a result I suffer from health problems.

I have to take five tablets a day (for my heart, cholesterol and high blood pressure). Seven months ago doctors gave me heart bypasses. Just 26 days after the operation I was detained in hospital. I can walk for no more than three minutes a day. During the day I forget a great deal and I have pains in my chest and in my body.

Where are human rights?
Is that justice?
That is not democratic!

I am held in solitary confinement in Hannover Prison. Solitary confinement is torture. I cannot speak to anyone here. I spend all my time in an isolation cell with no access to sunlight or fresh air.

This is torture!
Isolation torture must end!
I demand human rights and justice!
End solitary confinement!
I demand to be transferred to a hospital!

I invite you to visit me here and take a look at my isolation cell. See for yourself, that it constitutes a violation of human rights.

I demand justice!
Is that justice?
Is that human rights?

Mustafa Atalay
Schulenburger Landstrasse 145
30165 Hannover