Three prisoners die of COVID-19 in Turkey, fears on thousands

Turkish Justice Minister, Abdullhamid Gul told reporters in Ankara that 17 prisoners in five prisons had been diagnosed with the virus. "Three of them died while receiving treatment in hospital."

In the recent weeks, Turkey has been experiencing a steady deterioration in the new Corona outbreak, and is the 9th country in the world in terms of confirmed casualties.

The confirmation of the infected came ahead of a session of the Turkish deputies to discuss a bill for releasing 90,000 inmates from the overcrowded prisons.

Human rights groups criticized the proposal for not including the political prisoners charged under Turkey's controversial anti-terrorism laws.

The UN Human Rights Commission has expressed serious concern about prison overcrowding, where many are in unclean and unhealthy conditions, which may cause a wider spread of the Coronavirus.

"In the dormitories where we stay, there are the old and chronically ill prisoners. The prison administration has not taken any measures for these prisoners," Suhaila Tash, who is serving her sentence in the women's closed prison in Sanjan, said in an interview with our agency. In the dormitory, there were the Coronavirus-like symptoms, but doctors did not intervene in any way to diagnose the disease, and they were sent back to dormitories."

A.J

ANHA