SEZGIN Dağ

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On November 13, the Kurdish activist Sezgin Dağ died at the age of 41 under still unexplained circumstances in Lyss, Switzerland, where he was living as a refugee in the asylum center at Grenzstrasse 14. Relatives and companions believe that his death is a violation of the right to life. They demand that those responsible be held accountable before the law.

According to the Initiative for Sezgin Dağ, there are obvious violations and negligence that led to his death. These would have to be investigated and included in the investigation process. In justification, it says: "On November 12, 2020, Sezgin Dağ went to the Aarberg Hospital at 31 Lyss Street, which belongs to the Insel Group, at around 4:00 pm. He had numbness in his arm and jaw, as well as heartburn, pain in his throat and stomach. He also had this symptomatology during myocardial infarction in Turkey. According to our research, a blood count was done in the hospital and an X-ray was performed. The attending physician's diagnosis was stomach upset and cardiac arrhythmia due to an energy drink he had drunk earlier. The doctor prescribed a painkiller called Dafalgan and another medication for heartburn. Sezgin was sent back to the asylum center with this diagnosis and medication. As the day progressed, his condition worsened. His friends alerted the person in charge at the asylum center several times about Sezgin's health condition. Around 10 p.m., it became very critical and life-threatening for Sezgin. According to witnesses, he was foaming at the mouth and crying. He hugged himself, shouted 'My heart, my heart!" and tensed up at times. In this critical and life-threatening situation, the responsible employee of the asylum center merely ordered a cab instead of an ambulance. Sezgin Dağ was driven alone by cab to the hospital in Aarberg without an escort. According to the statement of the senior commissioner, he died in this cab at approximately 00:20 on November 13, 2020."

We demand that the medical care of Sezgin Dağ from the time he applied for asylum until his death be put to the test; especially the examination findings as well as the treatments of November 12, 2020 at the hospital in Aarberg. In particular, those responsible at the asylum center should be held accountable to the law for their irresponsible actions - calling a cab instead of an ambulance in such a critical and life-threatening situation. The public prosecutor's office should also disclose its investigation.

"The lack of controls by the state institutions in the privatized asylum centers lead to such events. It is irresponsible and we feel it is discrimination towards all refugees that the authorized company ORS does not instruct its employees to call an ambulance in such life-threatening situations. This shows us that management profit is more important than human life. The excessive cost of ambulance services is also a major shortcoming of the Swiss health care system. We are sad to have lost our son, brother, cousin and friend. Those responsible, as well as the system, who are partly to blame for this tragic death, must be questioned. All necessary legal steps must be taken and to prevent the death of more Sezgins, the necessary precautions must be taken unconditionally and urgently."

Signatories to the appeal include:

• Familie Dağ und Kaplangil
• FEDA (Demokratische Föderation der Aleviten)
• SKB (Sozialistischer Frauenverband)
• IGIF (Föderation der Immigrierten Arbeiter*innen in der Schweiz)
• CDK-S (Kurdischer Dachverband in der Schweiz)
• SYKP (Partei des sozialistischen Wiederaufbaus)
• ROTA (Migrantische Selbstorganisation)
• IHDD (Verein für Menschenrechte und Solidarität in der Schweiz)
• ITIF (Föderation der Arbeiter*innen aus der Türkei in der Schweiz)
• DC (Revolutionäre Front)
• KKP (Kommunistische Partei Kurdistans)
• Lila-Rot-Kollektiv
• ATIK (Konförderation der Arbeiter*innen aus der Türkei in Europa)

Family wants the case to be resolved. Instead of an ambulance, the caregivers call a cab when an asylum seeker in pain turns to them. Sezgin Dağ dies. Could Sezgin Dag's life have been saved? This is the question his family asks themselves over and over again. They still hope that the case will be solved. "We want to find those responsible for this negligence. With this, we want to prevent something like this from happening to other refugees. That no one has to feel the same pain as we do," says Sister Medine. Prosecutor Amaël Gschwind of the Bern Jura-Seenland prosecutor's office is investigating the death. He ordered the interrogation of the guard, the caregiver and the cab driver and had a forensic medical report prepared at the University of Bern. Mullis and Stolkin are not satisfied: only a few people were questioned, and the forensic medical report is neither complete nor independent. The lawyers want to question more people, such as the doctor from the hospital in Aarberg, and demand an independent cardiological report. But the public prosecutor's office rejected all twelve requests for evidence. That is why the Dag family went to the Bern High Court. Last Wednesday, they submitted their final statement.