Location Esenler, Istanbul Security class T-type City Istanbul | Status Operational Director Zeki Uzun Opened 1981 | |
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Managed by Directorate General of Penitentiaries, Ministry of Justice Street address Eskiedirne Asfaltı Üzeri 419 | ||
Metris Prison (Turkish: Metris Cezaevi), or officially Metris Closed Penitentiary (Turkish: Metris Kapalı Ceza İnfaz Kurumu) is a state correctional institution in the Esenler district of Istanbul Province in Turkey. The prison complex consists of two T-type buildings. The current prison director is Zeki Uzun.
Contents
Location
The Metris prison is situated in the Havaalanı neighborhood on the Eskiedirne Asfaltı (literally: Old Edirne Road). The complex is built on 32,000 m2 (340,000 sq ft) ground covering an area of 50,000 m2 (540,000 sq ft).
History
The facility was established by the Ministry of National Defence and opened on April 17, 1981, for use as the Metris Military Prison during the martial law era following the 1980 coup d'état. It was transferred to the Ministry of Justice on August 1, 1988. Since then, it serves as the Metris Closed Penitentiary subordinated to the Bakırköy District Court. On March 18, 2007, the second T-type prison building entered service, and all detainees and convicts of the closed H-type prison were transferred to the new building. Another T-type prison building, the Prison #1, opened on May 31, 2008.
Mass prison break
Twenty-nine inmates escaped from the prison in the early hours of March 25, 1988, as it was still being administered by the military. Of the escapees, eleven were sentenced to the death penalty and eight to life imprisonment. They were all members of illegal extreme left-wing organizations, such as 19 members of the armed wing of the Communist Party of Turkey/Marxist–Leninist (TİKKO) – considered as extremely dangerous – three members of the Revolutionary Communist Party of Turkey (TDKP/HK), one member of the Turkish Liberation Front (THKP/C), one member of the Revolutionary Left (Dev-Sol), and five members of the Revolutionary Path (Dev-Yol).
The mass prison break took place through a 60 m (200 ft)-long secret tunnel, which was built in six months. The tunnel was dug up manually with spoons, and the extracted soil was dumped into the sewage system.