ISTANBUL - Families of PKK Leader Abdullah Öcalan and other prisoners applied to Bursa Chief Public Prosecutor's Office and İmralı Prison Directorate to request a meeting.
Mehmet Öcalan, the brother of PKK Leader Abdullah Öcalan who was held under severe isolation conditions in İmralı Type F High Security Prison and has not been heard from for 32 months, and his trustee, Mazlum Dinç, applied to the Bursa Chief Public Prosecutor's Office and İmralı Prison Directorate, requesting a meeting.
Other prisoners in İmralı, Ömer Hayri Konar's brother Ali Konar, Hamili Yıldırım's brother Polat Yıldırım and Veysi Aktaş's sister Melihe Çetin, also applied to the Bursa Chief Public Prosecutor's Office and İmralı Prison Directorate, requesting a meeting.
AT LEAST 10 'DISCIPLINARY PENALTY' IN 2 YEARS
The right of Abdullah Öcalan and the other three people held in İmralı to meet their families is prevented by citing "disciplinary penalties". Between 2021 and 2023, Öcalan and other prisoners were given disciplinary punishments of at least 10 times, each for 3 months, and their right to visit their families was taken away.
IT HAS BEEN BLOCKED AT LEAST 19 TIMES IN THE LAST 8 YEARS
At least 19 family visit bans were given to Abdullah Öcalan between 2016 and 2023. The reasons and file numbers of these disciplinary penalties are not shared with their lawyers, despite all applications and objections.
LATEST BAN DECISION
Responding to the application made by the lawyers on July 10, 2023, on July 19, the judgeship announced that there was a 3-month disciplinary penalty, without specifying the date on which it was given. The last application of the lawyers was on October 10, 2023. Responding to the application made to the Bursa Execution Judgeship requesting family views, on October 13, the court stated that there was a new disciplinary punishment given against Abdullah Öcalan and other prisoners.
The judge's office cited "its reflection in the press" as the reason for not sharing the file number subject to disciplinary punishment.