Monday, March 15, 2021

International Initiative – Freedom for Ocalan – Peace in Kurdisatan

Statement on rumours about Öcalan’s well-being

“We are not demanding that the prisoners on İmralı Island receive special treatment; on the contrary, we are demanding that their special treatment ends”.

 Open the Gates of İmralı, now!

Today, Mr. Öcalan’s legal team, the Asrın Law Office, published a statement (see below) addressing rumors that began to circulate widely yesterday about Abdullah Öcalan’s well-being. We share the concerns of the lawyers, as well as their reasonable and just demand for immediate access to Abdullah Öcalan and their three other clients at the İmralı Island Prison.

“We insist on our demand to create communication channels that will end the state of isolation in Imrali that in itself constitutes maltreatment.”

| Monday, March 15, 2021

Press statement by Asrin Law Office

STATEMENTPRISONABDULLAH ÖCALANIMRALI ISLAND COMPLEX

We are documenting a press statement by Asrin Law Office


To the Press and the Public

We are unable to make any contact with our clients Mr. Abdullah Öcalan, Mr. Ömer Hayri Konar, Mr. Hamili Yıldırım and Mr. Veysi Aktaş, who are held in İmralı Prison. While the last lawyer-client consultations in İmralı Prison took place on 7 August 2019 and only with Mr. Öcalan, our clients’ last contact with the outside world occurred within the scope of their exercise of the right to communicate by phone which they were granted for the first time on the occasion of the pandemic on 27 April 2020.

Since then we have not been able to receive any news from our client Mr. Öcalan. On 14.03.2021, allegations regarding his life were advanced on a number of anonymous social media accounts. We seriously examine every claim made about our clients in İmralı, who we have not been allowed to meet for a long time, and we take all necessary action when required. We do not know from where these claims, which are advanced from time to time, originate and spread, but what is important for us is that these claims regarding Mr. Öcalan occur periodically. Undoubtedly, the most important reason for this is the severe isolation imposed on Imrali and the fact that we are completely curtailed in our opportunities to receive any information and make any observations. Given the fact that İmralı Prison, as a standard prison, is not a prison where family and lawyer visits can take place on a regular basis and where information about the inmates’ health and living conditions can be obtained, these allegations raise serious concerns that need to be cleared up. To this end, communication with İmralı should be made possible at the earliest.

We insist on our demand to create communication channels that will end the state of isolation in Imrali that in itself constitutes maltreatment, thus ruling out the concerns about our clients’ health and living conditions. Once again, we urge the political and administrative authorities to act responsibly and abandon this practice of discriminatory and violent isolation against a single prison and a single group of prisoners, to allow İmralı Prison to be monitored, and to implement the legal rights regarding visits and communication indiscriminately.

15.03.2021

ASRIN LAW OFFICE (ASRIN HUKUK BÜROSU)

Read the statement on International Initiative Freedom for Öcalan – Peace in Kurdistan website: https://www.freeocalan.org/news/english/open-the-gates-of-imrali-now