Prison requires 50 Turkish Liras for arrested French student's letters

Prison requires 50 Turkish Liras for arrested French student's letters

ISTANBUL

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An Eskişehir prison, in which arrested student Sevil Sevimli has been held for months, is requiring 50 Turkish Liras for each of her letters because they are written in French, daily Milliyet reported today.

Sevimli, a French university student of Turkish origin, was arrested on charges of "being a member of a terrorist organization" in May, after she attended an Istanbul concert by the left-wing music group "Grup Yorum" on April 12 and participated in the May 1 celebrations.

She is unable to write letters to her friends in France because the prison is asking for 50 liras per letter, in order for a translator to read and check them, the reports said.

Sevimli came to Turkey from France to study as part of the Erasmus program months ago, and has been under arrest since May 9.