The Paris Bar Association sent a letter of protest to the Turkish Ministry of Justice, condemning the prevention of the right to defence of Kurdish People's Leader Abdullah Öcalan and other prisoners in İmralı.
The Paris Bar Association issued a statement condemning the denial of defence rights of Kurdish People's Leader Abdullah Öcalan, who has been held incommunicado for 40 months, and Veysi Aktaş, Hamili Yıldırım and Ömer Hayri Konar, who are held along with him in İmralı Type F High Security Prison in the Sea of Marmara, western Turkey.
Stating that they accepted Rezan Sarıca, one of the lawyers of Asrin Law Office, which undertakes the defence of Abdullah Öcalan and other prisoners, on 25 June, the bar association made the following statement:
"The Paris Bar Association, represented by its former vice-president Vincent Nioré, received on 25 June 2024, in the presence of our colleagues François Devedjian and David Andic, our colleague Rezan Sarıca, lawyer of the Istanbul Bar Association, one of the lawyers for the four prisoners.
The last visit of Abdullah Öcalan's lawyers took place on 7 August 2019. Three other detainees have not received any visits since 2015. In total, eight defence lawyers have been unable to reach their clients physically, by phone or by correspondence. Our colleagues sent a letter of protest to the Minister of Justice of the Republic of Turkey to protest these unacceptable attacks on defence rights, fundamental freedoms and human dignity. The Paris Bar Association, concerned about what is happening to the four detainees in Imrali Prison Island, joined the protest of the defence lawyers."
