Police in Turkey arrested 12 people Sunday during a demonstration for a reduction in solitary confinement for hunger-striking political prisoners, the Anatolia news agency said, cited by AFP.
Police stopped the protestors, primarily family and friends of the prisoners, from holding up banners and distributing leaflets, it said.
Twelve demonstrators, who were gathered in the European center of the city were taken away by police for questioning.
A Turkish human rights group named IHD Friday held a demonstration, which passed off without incident, calling for communal free time for all political prisoners.
Prisoners launched their hunger strike in October 2000 to protest against the introduction of high-security prisons, in which cells for one to three people replaced large dormitories for dozens of inmates.
Supported by rights groups, protesters claim the new arrangement leaves them socially isolated and more vulnerable to torture and maltreatment.
The Turkish government, however, has categorically ruled out a return to the dormitory system, arguing that it was the main reason behind frequent riots and hostage-taking incidents in the country's unruly jails.
The death toll from the strike has reached fifty and includes both prisoners and outside supporters of the movement, as well as four police officers killed during disturbances related to the strike.
Four prisoners burned themselves to death in support of the strike and another four people died last November during a police raid on an Istanbul house occupied by hunger strikers. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
