Ocalan Sees No chance Of Fair Retrial, Boycotts Meetings With Lawyers

"Our client will not accept a retrial under these circumstances because he believes it would not go beyond a ploy to deceive the public opinion," attorney Dogan Erbas told reporters.

The Strasbourg-based European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled last month that Ocalan's 1999 trial, in which he was sentenced to death for treason, was unfair and recommended a new trial.

Ocalan's sentence was commuted to life in prison in 2002 after Turkey abolished capital punishment as part of reforms to boost its bid to join the European Union.

The ECHR said the court which convicted Ocalan was not impartial because it included a military judge during part of the trial and that Ocalan and his lawyers were denied the required time and facilities to prepare their defense.

Ankara has said it will respect the ruling.

Officials, however, have stressed that a possible retrial will be aimed only at correcting the procedural flaws mentioned by the ECHR and cannot result in a lighter verdict for the rebel leader.

Such statements "have breached in advance the condition of a trial by an independent and impartial court," Erbas charged.

Ocalan was also frustrated with the presence of a prison official at his latest meeting with his lawyers on June 1 following the introduction of a new law that paved the way for authorities to impose such restrictions, Erbas said.

"In line with our client's demand, we will not go to see him as long as the current practice persists," he said.

Ocalan's attorneys are accused of acting as intermediaries between Ocalan and his militants, who last year ended a five-year unilateral ceasefire with Ankara on the grounds that reforms aimed at expanding Kurdish freedoms were insufficient.

Erbas said they would ask the Council of Europe, the pan-European body to which the ECHR belongs, to put pressure on Ankara to ensure a fair retrial for their client.