The family and lawyer of musician Nûdem Durak, who was jailed in 2015 on charges of “membership in a terrorist organization” for performing music in Kurdish and has been sentenced to a total of 19 years and 6 months in prison, have called for her release, drawing attention to her health problems and prison conditions.
Durak, who is being held at Erzincan Closed Women’s Prison, faces the risk of losing her voice due to the progression of her toxic goitre and osteoporosis. Durak’s lawyer, Ali Çimen, stated that the musician had been convicted on charges of “membership in a terrorist organization” in two separate cases, emphasizing that her artistic activities formed the basis of the prosecutions. The lawyer explained that Durak’s instrument had been broken and that her new guitar had not been handed over to her by the prison authorities, adding that the musician was being prevented from continuing her art whilst in prison.
Çimen also stated that, following the rejection of Durak’s application to the Constitutional Court regarding a violation of his rights, they had appealed to the European Court of Human Rights; however, requests for a deferment of his sentence on grounds of health issues had also been rejected.