Lawyers from Asrın Law Bureau, who act as Abdullah Öcalan’s legal representatives, have recently learned that new bans that have been put into place regarding visits to see the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Öcalan and other prisoners, who are jailed in a high security prison on the remote island of Imralı in the Marmara Sea, Turkey.
Applications are filed on a weekly basis by Öcalan’s lawyers to the Chief Public Prosecutor of Bursa, who is the legal authority regarding the determination of visits and all legal issues relating to Imralı Prison. What was noteworthy in the most recent application was that they received a response from the Chief Public Prosecutor, which rarely happens.
The lawyers application was rejected on the grounds of two separate ”ban on visits” against Abdullah Öcalan.
The Prosecutor’s Office informed lawyers that there was a six-month ”ban on visits” with Abdullah Öcalan, as determined by a 12 October court decision.
The grounds for the rejection of the family visit was another “ban on visits” for three months given by the Disciplinary Board of Imralı Prison.
”For years, there has been aggravated isolation imposed on those in the Imrali Island Prison. The ban has no legal basis. Disciplinary punishments and bans on visits are not legal, but political decisions,” İlknur Alcan, the chair of the Association of Lawyers for Freedom (OHD), told Jin News.
Alcan believes that judicial authorities in Turkey are acting in a politically motivated basis, especially when it comes to İmralı Prison and Abdullah Öcalan’s case.
”These decisions are politically motivated. The ban on visits actually shows the problem of human rights violations we are experiencing in the country today,” she said.
”Isolation imposed in Imralı spreads across the country and deepens the social crisis in Turkey.”
Öcalan’s lawyers have been sharing their concerns for years concerning the well-being of their client. They most recently stated that they had not received any information for eight months from any prisoners in Imralı Prison, including Abdullah Öcalan, Hayri Konar, Hamili Yıldırım and Veysi Aktaş.
Other organisations have also expressed their concerns. The Lawyers for Freedom Association (OHD), alongside other NGOs, in July applied to the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe with regard to the urgent monitoring of the European Court of Human Rights’ (ECtHR’s) 2014 decision given for Abdullah Öcalan, Hayati Kaytan, Emin Gurban and Civan Boltan.
The Committee of Ministers is expected to announce a decision regarding the application made on behalf of Abdullah Öcalan, after their meetings that are scheduled to end on 2 December.
