Campaign launched to free Ergenekon suspect

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

A campaign has been started to release the former rector of Malatya University, Fatih Hilmioğlu, after he was diagnosed with cancer and facial paralysis while pending trial under arrest as part of the Ergenekon coup case.

“[Hilmioğlu] has been held in prison conditions threatening to his health for the last four years due to ambiguous and unproven claims. A state is primarily responsible of its citizens’ lives. It is inhumane to leave him for dead when you consider presumption of innocence and long detention periods,” said a petition spread across social media websites. Hilmioğlu, who has been behind bars in Silivri Prison since April 17, 2009, also suffers from cirrhosis. His treatment is continuing at a hospital of the district. Hilmioğlu also lost his son Emir in a traffic accident on Oct. 14, 2012. In his party’s group meeting yesterday, main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu called on the government to be sensitive about Hilmioğlu’s health situation.