Jailed cancer patients released too late to get treatment: deputy

Tacettin Toprak, a Turkish citizen who had been held in Manisa prison for over three years, was too ill to treat by the time he was released from prison on Saturday, according to Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu, a prominent human rights activist and a deputy from the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP).

Gergerlioğlu tweeted Saturday that Toprak who has been diagnosed with bladder cancer months ago, was finally released on Saturday, yet doctors said it was too late.

“The patient was finally released. Yet, the cancer he had was a type that spreads too fast. He now depends on breathing machines. Doctors say they can’t do anything at this point,” Gergerlioğlu tweeted.

In another tweet last week, Gergerlioğlu said even though Mr. Toprak was diagnosed with advanced bladder cancer that arises from the tissues of the urinary bladder, three different Turkish courts had ruled for the continuation of his imprisonment.