The Health and Social Service Workers' Union (SES) has released a statement about the arrest of its former co-chair Gönül Erden.
Arrested in September, Erden hasn't been indicted yet. There is also a confidentiality order on the investigation against her.
The prison administration has imposed a "visitation ban," rejecting every petition to visit Erden without citing a reason, said Selma Atabay, the co-chair of the union.
"She hasn't been put into the ward and has been kept in a cell under the pretext of Covid-19. And now, a visitor ban is implemented. We don't accept this isolation," she said. "Gönül Erden's only communication with the outside world is through her attorney. Our friend who is arrested unfairly is tried to be punished by preventing visitations."
"Our union's efforts to reveal the real number of cases and deaths and its opposition against the failure to manage the pandemic have made our union a target of the government. The arrest of our previous Co-Chair Gönül Erden is a result of this situation," she remarked.
What happened?
Nine current and former executives of SES, including Atabey and Erden, were detained on May 25, 2021.
After a week in detention, they were brought before the prosecutor's office, which referred them to the court with a request of arrest without taking their statements.
The court refused to arrest the SES members, and the prosecutors appealed the verdict. The court ordered the arrest of Erden, who was detained and put in prison without interrogation on September 21, 20211.
