Lawyers of Öcalan complain to Council of Judges and Prosecutors about forbidden visits to Imrali

Asrın Law Office filed a complaint with the Council of Judges and Prosecutors (HSK) on 24 December against the prosecutors and judges in charge, on the grounds that they “obstructed the exercise of their rights unlawfully by abuse of office”.

According to Mezopotamya Agency (MA), in the petition, the events in Imrali since 25 March were included. “We complained about the judges who are preventing the use of our clients’ fundamental rights, which are guaranteed by law, without a legal basis beyond their job description. Administrative investigations should be made against them, as well as criminal penalties in accordance with the definition of crime. We request that the relevant prosecutor’s office be notified in order to open an investigation.”

Asrın Law Office also applied to the Constitutional Court (AYM) on 29 December because no news had been heard about Abdullah Öcalan and prisoners Ömer Hayri Konar, Hamili Yıldırım and Veysi Aktaş for 9 months.

Kurdish people’s leader Abdullah Öcalan has been held in isolation in Imrali High Security F-Type Prison since he was taken captive as the result of an international conspiracy in 1999.

The last news from Abdullah Öcalan was the one he gave on the phone with his brother on 25 March. The phone call only lasted a few minutes.

The lawyers of Öcalan were able to meet with their clients on 2 and 22 May, 12 and 18 June and 7 August 2019, after 8 years from the previous visit. Since 7 August 2019, however, all applications have gone unanswered.

It was revealed that two new bans on Abdullah Öcalan were issued after the lawyers applied for an ‘urgent visit’ to Bursa Criminal Execution Judge on 22 November. The Bursa Execution Judgeship rejected the application, citing a 6-month ban on Öcalan given by the court on 12 October as a reason.

While rejecting the application for visit filed by the families, the same Judge’s Office cited the decision of the Disciplinary Board of the Imralı Penitentiary Directorate, dated 18 August, to “forbid visits” for a period of 3 months.