İsmail Tamboğa was only 16 years old when he was ordered by a Turkish court to serve four life sentences in prison. He is now 22 and is suffering from various diseases, including stomach cancer.

He weighs 35 kilograms and can only be fed with formula. The Freedom of Sick Prisoners Initiative have called to postpone the rest of Tamboğa’s sentence, Mesopotamia News Agency reports.

Nuray Çevirmen, a member of the Human Rights Association (IHD), read the statement for the immediate release of Tamboğa on behalf of the Freedom of Sick Prisoners Initiative.

“He has serious problems and cannot digest properly. He is unable to eat because of the problems related to his stomach and has suffered extreme weight loss because of vomiting, He now weighs 35 kilograms and his health condition has worsened because he cannot find adequate nutrition due to prison conditions,” she said.

The family cannot visit their son since the prison is far away from where they live and they are unable to afford the visits. Nuray Çevirmen also stated that the family and lawyers applied for Tamboğa to be transferred to another prison that is closer to the family.

“Repeated requests to be transferred to a prison close to his family were denied and he is suffering a serious injustice. In the meeting with his lawyer, he described his health problems and the violations of rights he has experienced. Despite his demands, Yeni Yaşam, Evrensel, and Birgün newspapers are not given to him, only Milliyet is given. In this way, the right to information has been prevented.”

Emphasising that the place for such an ill person is not prison, Çevirmen underlined that Tamboğa needs to be treated in a real hospital next to his family, and his sentence must be postponed until he recovers.