A man suffering from cancer who has been jailed in Turkey for more than a year has died due to a lack of timely hospital treatment, the TR724 online news outlet reported.
Thirty-two-year-old Selman Aşçı, who was detained because of alleged membership in the Gülen-movement-affiliated charity Kimse Yok Mu and has been kept in pretrial detention in İzmir’s Şakran Prison for over a year, has died.
According to TR724, Aşçı was a cancer patient and required treatment while in prison. It was reported that weeks before his demise, his health worsened. Despite applications for transfer to a hospital, prison authorities refused to allow him to be moved.
Ten days after the state of his health became critical he was admitted to an intensive care unit but could not be saved despite all efforts.
The Justice Ministry and the prison administration have not issued a statement about the death of Aşçı, who was married and a father of two.
Turkey survived coup attempt on July 15, 2016 that killed 249 people. The government along with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan blames the Gülen movement for it while the latter denies involvement.
