Another six-month ban imposed on leader Ocalan

Leader Ocalan has lived in strict isolation since 1999, and no information has been received from him since March 25, 2021, while requests to meet with him have been rejected without knowing the reasons.

The Turkish authorities, from time to time, invoke “disciplinary penalties” as a pretext for the arbitrary and systematic bans, and sometimes, lawyers are not notified of these decisions and penalties until months later.

On December 23, 2022, the lawyers submitted an objection to the ban on meetings to the Second Execution Court in Bursa, and the lawyers’ request was rejected under the pretext of the ban on meeting with the family for 3 months. The lawyers were not provided with any information regarding the content of the refusal decision, as they were only informed of the imposition of a "disciplinary penalty" against the leader.

With the aim of annulling the penalty decision, on January 10, the lawyers submitted an objection request to the First Supreme Criminal Court in Bursa, but the court rejected this objection request on the same day and under the same pretext.

In the aftermath of the devastating earthquake that hit Maraş on the 6th of last February, the lawyers submitted another request to allow the leader to meet with his lawyer and his family, so that the lawyers would know that on the 21st of December 2022, a new ban was taken banning meeting visitors for three months, against the leader Ocalan and their other clients, Omar Khairy Konar, Hamili Yıldırım and Vesi Aktaş, and the ban was confirmed on January 10. Despite that, lawyers submit two requests a week to meet their clients and a request to allow their families to meet with them.

On the 6th of last April, the lawyers submitted two separate requests, one to the Public Prosecution Office in Bursa and the other to the Imrali Prison Directorate. The request was referred to the First Execution Court in Bursa, which rejected it and the lawyers' objections on the 12th of the same month.

The court indicated that on the 15th of last March, a new ban was taken preventing visitors from visiting Imrali prison, despite the fact that the validity period of the previous ban had not expired, so that the decision was confirmed on the 30th of March and the request to meet with the leader was rejected for this reason.

The lawyers submitted this decision to the First Supreme Criminal Court in Bursa on the 14th of last April, but it rejected the objection request on the 30th of the same month and in conjunction with this, a decision was taken to ban a new meeting that prevents meeting with the family for six months.

A new ban for six months

The Public Prosecution Office and the Imrali Prison Directorate did not respond to the lawyers’ requests, despite the end of the ban which was confirmed on October 27, 2022.

On the 27th of last April, the lawyers submitted a request to the Execution Court in Bursa in order to meet with their clients, but without a response, and instead of the Execution Court, the first Supreme Criminal Court in Bursa notified the lawyers, and the notification included the decision of the Third Criminal Court in Bursa, as it stipulated Draft notification of a new ban on meeting with the family for six months, against the leader Abdullah Ocalan.

It turned out that the lawyers had submitted personal objection requests to the Supreme Constitutional Court against the ban decisions.

a.k

ANHA