İSTANBUL, TURKEY
Asrın Law Firm lawyers made a new statement due to the fire on Imralı Island, where 3 prisoners and the peoples’ leader Abdullah Ocalan are being held captive. Asrın Law Office shared the following:
“On 27.02.2020, the Minister of Interior shared the information that a fire broke out on İmralı Island on a live TV broadcast. As it is known, İmralı Island was designed as a one-person prison area for our client, Mr Öcalan in 1999, and then, in 2015, our other clients Ömer Hayri Konar, Hamili Yıldırım and Veysi Aktaş were transported. Apart from legal regulations, our clients are kept on the island, which is closed to settlements and visits, within the scope of the military forbidden zone.
It is an inevitable reality that Mr Öcalan and our other clients will be directly affected by this fire. In such a situation that poses an urgent and life-threatening situation in the current island conditions, the absence of instant intervention conditions is controversial and causes righteous anxiety and hesitation.
After the family visit on August 12, 2019, we were prevented from contacting our clients on Imrali Island. Unfortunately, we do not have any information regarding the health and life safety of our clients. In order to control the conditions of detention on-site, it is imperative that the lawyer and family opinion, which we have the legal right to be, be provided immediately. For this purpose, applications were made to the authorized prosecutor’s office and the Ministry of Justice to ensure lawyers and family meetings.
The absolute isolation imposed on our clients on İmralı Island constitutes a crime. Taking a stand against it is primarily a moral and humanitarian attitude and is within the scope of democratic legal rights. We believe that the public will show this sensitivity, and we invite those concerned to do their part.”
