Tears of a father

Fatih Hilmioğlu, a successful physician and professor of medicine, is a former rector of the Malatya İnönü University in Turkey's east.  He was arrested on 14 April 2009 and is being held in Silivri prison, with claims that he's part of a movement designed to overthrow the government.  

Like journalists Mustafa Balbay and Tuncay Özkan, like surgeon-professor Mehmet Haberal, like writer Yalçın Küçük, years have passed in detention.  A verdict is yet to be delivered.  He is yet to be sentenced.    

Recently, Turkish hacker group RedHack leaked over 60,000 documents in relation to corruption at Turkey's universities.  The documents reveal that the main motivation in Professor Hilmioğlu's arrest is that, during his time as rector, he employed people of Alevi descent and those who were politically aligned to the Left.

Professor Hilmioğlu is a cancer-sufferer whose health is deteriorating rapidly. In October 2012, his 22-year-old son was killed in a suspicious car accident in Ankara.  He is now also suffering from extreme depression. 

The Avcilar Murat Koklük hospital in Istanbul has expressed serious concerns over Professor Hilmioğlu's health.  They believe Professor Hilmioğlu needs to be treated at a better-equipped hospital.  

The court at Silivri disagrees.  His detention continues. 

Meanwhile, Turkey now has the highest number of journalists in prison - more than Iran, more than China.  

So much for democratic thought.