Automatically translated from Basque, translation may contain errors. More information here. Elhuyarren itzultzaile automatikoaren logoa

Kurdish political prisoner Leyla Güven has been on hunger strike for 68 days

  • The protest began on 8 November, following the footsteps of Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan, who announced his victory. Güven wants to denounce isolation and bad conditions.

Leyla Güven, a member of the Kurdu Workers' Party, was arrested on 22 January in Turkey, Germany. On 7 November, he announced a hunger strike to denounce the bad conditions suffered by the Kurds in general. Güven says he lives in isolation and mistreated. Since his arrest he has only had the opportunity to receive a couple of visits. On the other hand, last week his mother died and his father died in jail.

Leyla Güven follows the footsteps of Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan. Öcalan has been incarcerated since 1999, with a life sentence in prison on the island of Imrali. He also began a hunger strike last year to claim the rights of the prisoners, and on Saturday he had the opportunity to receive his brother's visit. He had been without visits for more than two years. Öcalan praised Güven's attitude: “One of the basic rights is to be able to receive visits: you have to fight to receive visits at least every two weeks.”


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