ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - An 80-year-old Kurdish woman, who was jailed by Turkish authorities along with her husband in May for terror charges, was released on Wednesday after reporting her disability to the court, her son told Rudaw English.
Makbule Ozer and her 69-year-old husband, Hadi Ozer, were detained in the summer of 2018 in Van province’s Edremit district for allegedly “aiding a terrorist organization,” in reference to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). The couple were sentenced to two years and one month. They were arrested by police on May 11.
Dilan Kunt Ayan, the lawyer of the couple, appealed the decision, submitting a report which confirmed that Makbule has a 52 percent disability.
The lawyer and their son, Serhat, told Rudaw English on Wednesday that a Turkish court in Van decided to postpone Makbule’s sentence for one year due to her health condition.
In an exclusive video sent to Rudaw English, Makbule called for the release of all prisoners.
The condition of the prison was terrible. Death is better than jail, she said.
Makbule was frequently moved to hospital as he could not endure the prison condition, her family told Rudaw English recently.
The elderly woman’s arrest had angered many Kurds who slammed the ruling on social media.
On July 20, 2018, Makbule was treating people for their broken, twisted bones and umbilical hernias at her home in Van’s Edremit district as usual. At around 10pm, a stranger knocked on their door and asked if she could treat her for an umbilical hernia. She welcomed her in and, minutes later, police raided the house on the grounds that the stranger was a member of the PKK.[1]