ISTANBUL - Evaluating the isolation imposed on PKK Leader Abdullah Öcalan in İmralı as the "starting point of unlawfulness", ÖHD member Doğukan Taşdan called on the legal world to speak out against the isolation.

 

There has been no news for the last 19 months from PKK Leader Abdullah Öcalan, Ömer Hayri Konar, Veysi Aktaş and Hamili Yıldırım, who are being held under heavy isolation in İmralı Type F High Security Prison. Applications by lawyers and family members of Abdullah Öcalan and other detainees are blocked on the grounds of "disciplinary penalties". 775 lawyers from Turkey and hundreds of lawyers in Europe and the Middle East applied to the Ministry of Justice to end the isolation and ban on visits. However, the ministry has not responded at all to the applications so far.

 

ÖHD member Attorney Doğukan Taşdan, who applied to the ministry with a request to meet with Abdullah Öcalan immediately, evaluated the isolation and bans on Öcalan.

 

STARTING POINT OF LAWLESSNESS

 

Stating that the severe isolation conditions imposed on Öcalan in İmralı have spread to the whole of Turkey, especially the Kurdish people, Taşdan said that the isolation in İmralı must end in order for Turkey to evolve into a democratic government. Underlining that there is lawlessness in Imrali, Taşdan added that this special law applied in İmralı is a starting point for the spread of the lawlessness to whole society. Taştan said, “We can accept the situation in İmralı as the starting point of the lawlessness in prisons. The situation in prisons started with Öcalan. After Öcalan, bans on lawyers, bans on books, magazines, letters, communication and disciplinary punishments came to light. Lifting this great unlawful siege on Öcalan is also a big step forward for the people who carry out democratic politics."

 

'LAW CAN NOT BE APPLIED DIFFERENTLY FROM PERSON TO PERSON'

 

Stating that the violation of the "right to hope" decision of the European Human Rights Center (ECHR) for Öcalan was not implemented by Turkey, Taşdan stated that Turkey violated the Constitution with the decision in its reply to the Council of Europe (EC) on this issue. “Private law cannot be enforced. Law can not be applied differently from person to person. If that's the case, let's throw the Constitution away," Taşdan said, adding that as a lawyer, he considers this situation unacceptable.

 

'PEOPLE OF LAW MUST RAISE THEIR VOICE'

 

Stating that he was one of the lawyers who signed the application made to the Ministry of Justice to meet with Öcalan immediately, Taşdan reminded that the ministry still has not given any response to the institutions that applied for visiting İmralı. Taşdan said, “If we are going to talk about a democratic state, if we are going to say that there is democracy, let's look at this serious situation. Every day, people take to the streets and socialists and revolutionaries struggle for Öcalan. Resolving this issue means a breathe of air for the society. As long as this  continues, the wound of society will continue to bleed. For this reason, the people of law as a whole, as well as the bar associations and unions in the country, must fight against the isolation of Imrali and raise their voices.”

  

MA / Ergin Çağlar