The release of 74-year-old severely ill prisoner Mehmet Sait Yıldırım, held in Izmir Kırıklar No. 1 F-Type Prison, has been postponed once again by the Administrative and Observation Board.

Although Yıldırım’s sentence officially ended on 27 February 2025, the board first postponed his release for 9 months on the grounds that he was “not of good conduct” and “showed no remorse,” and then postponed it for another 9 months at the end of that period. The next evaluation is scheduled for 25 August 2026.

Yıldırım was arrested in 1995 and sentenced to life imprisonment by the Diyarbakır State Security Court. In 2015, he was one of five prisoners sent to Imrali Prison at Öcalan’s request, and he stayed in the same prison with Öcalan for nine days. He was later transferred to various prisons due to health problems.

Since 2018, Yıldırım has been held in Kırıklar No. 1 F-Type Prison, and according to his lawyers, he is being kept in a solitary cell due to a “ministry directive.”

Yıldırım suffers from numerous chronic illnesses, including heart disease, cervical hernia, hypertension, COPD, and vascular and lung diseases. His lawyers state that he has difficulty meeting his daily needs and even speaking.

Yıldırım documented the nine days he spent with Öcalan in his book “Nine Days in İmralı.”