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KurdistanObserver.com
Kurdish Rebel Leader's Solitary Confinement Prevents Meetings: Lawyers
ISTANBUL, Jan 17, 2006 (AFP) Lawyers
representing jailed Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan protested Tuesday that
they were unable to meet their client after authorities increased his isolation
on a prison island in northwestern Turkey.
Irfan Dundar, speaking on behalf of all lawyers representing Ocalan, told a
press conference here their client, who was jailed in 1999, had been sanctioned
with a 20-day-long confinement in a cell, a disciplinary measure which bars him
from meeting his lawyers.
A group of lawyers planning to visit him last week were prevented from
travelling out to the Imrali prison island for that very reason, Dundar said.
"We believe it necessary to underline that this new illegal and arbitrary
practice which Ocalan has been subjected to... is a decision that could lead to
very serious social tensions and conflicts," Dundar said, reading out a press
statement undersigned by several pro-Kurdish associations.
Dundar called on authorities to release information on the health and welfare
of Ocalan, whom they have not been able to meet since November 30.
Last year, Ankara introduced restrictions on Ocalan's meetings with his
lawyers, whom it accused of carrying orders from the rebel leader to his
militants who have recently stepped up their armed campaign.
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