The family of Fabien Azoulay, a gay Jewish man serving a 16+ year sentence over a minor drug offense, is asking the public to sign a petition demanding French President Emmanuel Macron transfer Azoulay out of the Turkish prison where he’s currently incarcerated. The 43-year-old French citizen has been subjected to torture and harassment at the hands of homophobic, antisemitic fellow inmates for nearly four years. Azoulay’s request to be transferred to a French prison to finish out his sentence has been in limbo since November 2019. Here’s everything we know about the case so far:
Why Is the French Citizen Incarcerated in a Turkish Prison?
Azoulay was arrested for buying an illegal narcotic online while visiting Turkey where he believed the substance to be legal (because it was legal in the country until just a few months prior to his arrest). The narcotic in question is Gamma Butyrolactone, or GBL.
GBL is a controlled substance that’s often used recreationally, especially in club settings. The effects are similar to a barbiturate like Solfoton or Nembutal. It was added to Turkey’s list of banned substances on June 4th, 2016. Less than a year later, Fabien Azoulay, a French citizen, took a trip to the country and purchased GBL online, not realizing it had been banned just months earlier.
The package was intercepted by the Turkish police en route to his hotel room and Azoulay was arrested shortly after. By September of that same year, he was in jail awaiting trial. That trial would come in February of 2018 and last all of 15 minutes before the judge sentenced him to 20 years in prison.
The sentence was deemed excessive by Azoulay’s legal team who appealed the decision, noting that the French citizen had no prior criminal record and had only purchased enough of the narcotic for personal consumption. His appeal was denied in January 2019, but his sentence was reduced to 16 years.
Why Is Azoulay Requesting Repatriation to France?
When he was first incarcerated, Azoulay was subjected to discrimination based on his religion. There were extremists attempting to force other inmates to convert to Islam in the overcrowded Maltepe prison in Istanbul where he was first taken. These forced conversions took the form of forced prayers and physical violence.
While in Maltepe, he also witnessed homophobic attacks, including a gruesome murder. Azoulay wrote the following about that incident in a letter to a friend:
“One guy had his throat slit by a group of four Syrians. I was sleeping when it happened but the screams of the other prisoners woke me up. The sight of blood everywhere was frightening, worse than a horror movie. I later learned that the prisoner who died had made sexual advances on one of the Syrians and that, in the name of Allah, he had to pay with his life because of his homosexuality.” (as translated by France24)
Witnessing the brutal treatment of fellow gay inmates, Azoulay tried his best to conceal his sexuality but was unable to do so for long.
In November of 2019, fellow inmates learned that in addition to being Jewish, Azoulay was also gay. That same month, the intimidations and attacks intensified, beginning with another inmate throwing boiling water on Azoulay in the middle of the night. He suffered second-degree burns across his body and had to be hospitalized.
After this attack, his legal team contacted the French foreign ministry, citing the incident as evidence that his life was in danger and demanding he be repatriated to France and allowed to serve out his sentence in his home country. The French foreign ministry refused.
Instead, they arranged for him to be transferred to Giresun prison, about 500 miles outside of the Turkish capital. In this remote prison, he is even more isolated than ever as the area is too dangerous to allow visitors. His only connection to friends and family now are his letters to friends and a brief weekly phone call with his brother.
This is year four of living in constant fear of violence and threats on his life. Those threats combined with the isolation have taken their toll on the 43-year-old’s mental health. His family reported that Azoulay has fallen into a major depression and has begun talking about suicide.
In a letter to a friend in June 2020, Azoulay wrote, “When I look at my sentence and read ‘release: 05/23/2034,’ my heart beats forcefully […] I won’t make it till then. I know it. I feel it. I won’t have the strength.” (as translated by The Times of Israel)
What Are the Demands in the Petition?
The petition that Azoulay’s family is asking the public to sign and share is a demand for President Macron to process the French citizen’s transfer request quickly because signs indicate that it is the President’s lack of action on this issue that is stalling the process.
It is now approaching two years since his legal team first filed the request for repatriation in November 2019, following the boiling water attack. The French government has taken no meaningful action, beyond having him transferred to the Giresun prison outside of his family’s reach.
His lawyers sent letters to both the Turkish ambassador to France and the French ambassador to Turkey, requesting their assistance in the matter. According to Carole-Olivia Montenot, one of Azoulay’s lawyers, “[The ambassadors’] replies made us believe that the ministry would like to act but that it cannot, that it has to wait for the green light from the Élysée presidential palace.”
This suggests that it is up to President Macron to set the gears in motion to allow Azoulay to be transferred to a French prison, where his life will no longer be in danger and his family will be nearby.
Diplomatic relations between the two countries are tense but his family and lawyers are asking for both governments to temporarily set differences aside in order to get Fabien Azoulay to safety.
According to the Times of Israel, the petition—which has gained over 110,000 signatures at the time this article was written—has already begun to help. On Tuesday, the City Council of Paris passed a resolution calling for Azoulay’s release.
In an interview with French news channel, C8, Ali Onaner, the Turkish Ambassador to France told the press that Azoulay had been transferred once again to another prison inside Turkey and that he now has less contact with other inmates.
However, his family and lawyers will not give up the fight until Fabien Azoulay is safely repatriated to a French prison.
What Can You Do?
For those who want to show their support to Fabien Azoulay, you can start by signing the petition demanding President Macron take immediate action. Share it with friends and family to help raise awareness and increase public pressure on the French President.
You can also mail letters expressing your solidarity and sympathy to Fabien Azoulay, via his support committee at the following address:
Support Committee of Fabien Azoulay – Sophie Wiesenfeld
67 rue Saint-Jacques
75005 Paris