The Asrın Law Office a firm in Turkey that represent Abdullah Öcalan and three other prisoners on the Imrali Island prison, and hundreds of lawyers from the Middle East and North Africa have applied to the Turkish Ministry of Justice to formally visit Abdullah Öcalan in İmralı prison coming just days after a further 350 lawyers from around the world also officially applied to visit the imprisoned Kurdish leader.
756 lawyers from Morocco, Palestine, Kurdistan Region, Iraq, Lebanon, Egypt, Rojava, Syria and Jordan applied to the Turkish Ministry of Justice to be permitted to visit Abdullah Öcalan, the Kurdish leader imprisoned in a Turkish prison on İmralı Island since 1999, The Asrin Law Office said on Monday on its Twitter account.
The Asrin Law Office is a firm of lawyers based in Turkey, who represent Abdullah Öcalan, the leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), who has been detained in İmralı F-Type High-Security Prison since 1999. The Asrin Law Office also represents Omer Hayri Konar, Hamili Yıldırım, and Veysi Aktas, who have been in the same prison since they were transferred there in 2015.
Lawyers from the Asrin Law Office have been prevented from communicating with their clients for more than 19 months.
The Asrin Law Office also stated that their colleagues in the Sulaymaniyah province of Iraqi Kurdistan had planned to hold a press conference regarding the submission but were prevented by local security.
“This incident shows the international dimension of the isolation of Öcalan in prison and why it needs to be dealt with.” Asrin Law Office added.
44 lawyers across Iraqi Kurdistan who signed the petition to pay a visit to Abdullah Öcalan, wanted to read their press statement in front of Sulaymaniyah’s court but were prevented by Asayish (Kurdish police), a lawyer and member of the preparatory committee for the Freedom for Öcalan campaign in Sulaymaniyah Shorsh Khdir told Roj news.
“The Asayish told us not to hold the press release due to the fact that we do not have permission, even though we explained that this is not a protest or gathering and that it does not need any permission, but the Asyaish told us even if you have permission, we won’t let you,” Khdir said.
The Asrın Law Office thanked the lawyers who have applied to the Turkish Ministry of Justice to pay a visit to the İmralı prison for their solidarity and said, “Öcalan is the most reliable actor capable of solving the longstanding crisis in the Middle East, and that the ongoing state of isolation should be terminated for him to resume his liberty.”
At a press meeting in Brussels on Wednesday, representatives from four legal associations unveiled the petition signed by a further 350 lawyers demanding access to Abdullah Öcalan and the three other Kurdish prisoners held in the high security Turkish prison on İmralı Island. The lawyers called the practices in the Imrali prison special and discriminatory isolation.
