Gül pardoned three other prisoners along with Zere on Friday night. Speaking to journalists following a visit to the Elazığ Governor's Office, the president responded to questions about the status of Zere, who has been jailed for over a decade for involvement in the terrorist activities of the far-left Revolutionary People's Liberation Party/Front (DHKP/C).
Supporters of the stage-four cancer patient have in recent days increased their calls for her release, with most of them pinning their hopes on Gül to exercise his presidential authority to pardon Zere.
For months the process for consideration of a pardon could not be started due to the lack of an updated medical report confirming the terminal status of Zere’s cancer. On Thursday the Council of Forensic Medicine (ATK) released its report, saying that Zere’s condition was advanced beyond any hope of recovery.
The report was sent to the presidency for evaluation as part of a pardon process. Noting on Friday that he had been traveling when the report reached the presidency, Gül said: “According to information I have been provided, a report has been issued saying that [Zere] is suffering from a serious illness and is in a condition such that she should no longer be imprisoned. Accordingly, I will of course follow my personal convictions while taking into consideration the medical report. In addition, there are others in the same situation; we will evaluate all of them.”
Commenting on the point of other prisoners in similar situations, Gül noted that not all who had committed crimes were connected to an organization that had the power to rally public opinion, but still had developed serious medical conditions in prison that necessitated reconsideration of their status. The president also emphasized that there was a pardon process and that he did not have, as is commonly believed, the constitutional authority to pardon whoever he pleased based solely on illness or advanced age.
“Our esteemed president has indicated that the report has reached him and that he will follow his personal convictions and will consider the medical report’s findings. We are hopefully awaiting the president’s decision; we think that he will decide to pardon her,” Zere’s father, Haydar Zere, said on Friday. In the event of Zere’s release, her father said he planned to bring his daughter from Elbistan to İstanbul and continue her treatment at the Çapa Medical School Hospital. “Maybe she’ll live a few more months.”
Meanwhile, late last week Zere’s lawyers had announced an alternative tactic to ensure her release, applying for a postponement of Zere’s incarceration until her medical condition improved. However, Elbistan State Prosecutor Süleyman Özar rejected the request on the grounds that an application and process were already under way to secure a presidential pardon for Zere.
Benzer Haberler 
National
