8.5-month pregnant woman under arrest though baby faces heart, kidney problems
Date posted: June 1, 2017
With only days to go before the delivery, a Kayseri woman is still held under arrest even though her baby has heart and kidney problems.
Hurriyet columnist Ayse Arman interviewed Mehmet Fatih Öztürk, a lawyer representing Şule Gümüşoluk, an 8.5-months-pregnant woman who is being held in pre-trial detention at the Kayseri Closed Prison.
“According to medical reports on hand, there are problems on the baby’s heart and kidneys. Its heart has a hole and its kidneys get growing at a pace much greater than the normal. A doctor even told Şule that the baby would have been treated before it was already late. If she was not under arrest, the baby would have been treated before it was born,” Öztürk told Arman.
The lawyer underlines that the decision to keep Şule under arrest violates not only universal treaties on children’ rights but also Turkey’s own regulation.
“Lots of things that you wouldn’t believe take place during the post-coup emergency rule,” the lawyer further continued.
Since the July 15, 2016 coup attempt, Turkey has detained more than 120,000 people and jailed some 50,000 as part of its post-coup crackdown. The arrestees include several pregnant women, elderly citizens, disabled individuals and many from other vulnerable groups.
The Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government, in what many consider an attempt to take revenge on the faith-based Hizmet movement, has been reworking the justice system in Turkey — shutting down certain courts, establishing new ones and quickly assigning some prosecutors and judges to deal with certain cases — which is diametrically opposed to the principles of law.
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