European court rejects jailed Turkish teachers' appeal

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) dismissed Wednesday an appeal regarding the detention of two jailed educators who have been on a hunger strike for a 147 days.

Semih Ozakca and Nuriye Gulmen both began their hunger strike on March 10 in the capital Ankara after they were dismissed by a state of emergency decree over the defeated July 15 coup attempt in Turkey.

"It examined the applicants' requests in the light of the medical reports and developments [..] and it found that the applicants' detention at the Sincan Hospital did not pose a real and imminent risk of irreparable harm to the life or limb of the applicants," the statement issued by the court said.

It therefore rejected the applicants' request that the Court order the government to release them.

The court's decision came after the medical reports issued by Ankara's Numune Hospital on July 28 said the applicants' situation was life-threatening and they could not continue to live unaided.

"Nevertheless, these findings do not necessitate the postponement of [their] detention on remand. [Their] situation can be monitored and [they] can be treated in prisons which have medical facilities comparable to those of a hospital or in zones of official medical establishments reserved for convicts," the reports added.

In June, the Turkish Constitutional Court dismissed the individual appeals by the two for their release on health condition.

Ozakca and Gulmen were arrested for allegedly being members of a terrorist organization, namely the far-left group DHKP-C, which has been active in Turkey.