İSTANBUL - Turkish authorities continue obstructing any connection with Abdullah Öcalan and three other prisoners in Imralı Island Prison.

 

Lawyers from Asrın Law Office have applied once again to Bursa Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office demanding up to date measures for the health of their clients in Imralı Island Prison; Abdullah Öcalan, Hamili Yıldırım, Ömer Hayri Konar and Veysi Aktaş. The lawyers also demanded official information on the measures taken -if any- in the prison against the Coronavirus pandemic.

 

The application of the lawyers has been rejected with the excuse that “the measures in question and the request for information do not fall within the remit of the offices of judge of execution”.

 

The lawyers’ request for a phone call with their clients has also been rejected with a citation to “the six-month restriction imposed by Imralı F-Type High Security Closed Penal Institution Directorate’s Board of Administration and Observation on Abdullah Öcalan, Hamili Yıldırım, Ömer Hayri Konar and Veysi Aktaş on 13 February 2020”.

 

The regular requests for visits by the Asrin Legal Office have not been answered by the Public Prosecutor's Office since 7 August 2019. Mehmet Öcalan was last able to visit his brother on 2 March following massive public pressure.

 

The tightly guarded prison island of Imrali is completely sealed off from the public, but there is a risk of infection with the novel coronavirus from the guards and prison staff who commute between the island and the mainland.