Ali Can Yılmaz, who is being held in Silivri L Closed Prison No 5, was detained and arrested in 2019 for allagedly using Molotovs during protests in Esenyurt. After 6 months of detention, Yılmaz was released and tried without arrest. Istanbul 28th High Criminal Court sentenced Yılmaz to 2 years, 4 months and 3 days of imprisonment for "damaging public property". 

 

GOOD BEHAVIOUR VERDICT 

 

Upon the confirmation of this sentence by the Court of Cassation, Yılmaz was arrested again and placed in Silivri L Closed Prison No 5. The Administration and Observation Board came together on 16 October and issued a report on Yılmaz's "good behaviour", 4 days before he was to complete the execution period of his prison sentence. The Board determined that the term threshold score for determining "good behaviour" was 45 and Yılmaz's term score was 57 and decided that he was in "good behaviour".

 

PREVENTED HIS RELEASE

 

However, the Board also met on 22 October, the day of Yılmaz's release, and blocked his release on the grounds that despite this "good behaviour", Yılmaz had not moved to the "neutral" ward. The Board decided to re-evaluate Yılmaz's release on 25 February 2025.

 

'THE BOARD IGNORED THE COURT'S DECISION'

 

While it is noteworthy that the date given by the Board coincides with one month after 23 January 2025, when Yılmaz will complete the execution of his entire sentence, Yılmaz explained his situation in a letter he sent to Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) Parliamentary Group Deputy Chair Sezai Temelli. Yılmaz described his situation in his letter as follows:  "If we calculate over the sentence given by the court, even if I serve the entire sentence, the date you should be released is 23 January 2025. Legally, I should not be in prison after this date. However, the board has decided that I should stay in prison for 1 month more. With this decision, the court's judgement was ignored. This situation does not exist anywhere in the world."

 

MA / Mehmet Aslan