The applications submitted by the Asrin Law Office for a meeting with the Imrali prisoners in connection with the Corona pandemic have been rejected. Lawyer Raziye Turgut explains that the decision is not legally tenable.
The Asrin Law Office representing Abdullah Öcalan and the other three prisoners at Imrali filed an application with the Bursa Chief Prosecutor Office, the Bursa Enforcement Court and the Turkish Ministry of Justice on 20 March due to the threat of the Coronavirus pandemic. The lawyers' request for protection measures for their clients and information about the prevention measures taken was rejected on the grounds that this does not fall within the scope of the enforcement jurisdiction.
According to attorney Raziye Turgut of Asrin Law Office, some of her clients suffer from chronic respiratory diseases in the high security prison Imrali. For this reason, they have demanded that all health and hygiene measures recommended in connection with Covid-19 be taken, that the defense lawyers be informed about them and that a telephone conversation with Abdullah Öcalan be held. The application was rejected on 26 March, and they were informed about the refusal on 6 April.
Turgut says that the reasons for the refusal are not legally tenable, because it is precisely in the remit of the enforcement judiciary to investigate and decide on complaints about lack of care for the physical and mental health of prisoners and about their contact with the outside world. For this reason, the Asrin Law Office lodged an appeal against the refusal decision on 13 April.
According to Raziye Turgut, telephone contact is possible in all prisons in Turkey except for the Imrali prisoners. However, a decision has been made against the four prisoners at Imrali to limit the possibilities for communication. The defense team only learned of this order, which is valid for six months, when their application was rejected. The lawyer points out that her clients are denied the right to legal representation and that the maximum legal limit for disciplinary sanctions during execution is three months. Because the imposition of the disciplinary penalty is unlawful and contradicts decisions of the Constitutional Court and the European Court of Human Rights and the recommendations of the Council of Europe's Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) are not implemented, the lawyers have also appealed against this decision.
The Imrali prisoners' defence team submits applications for lawyer and family visits to the Bursa Chief Public Prosecutor Office every week. According to Raziye Turgut, no positive response has been received so far. The application with the same demand to the Ministry of Justice has also remained unanswered.
