Lawyers from Asrin Law Office, the defence lawyers of Kurdish People's Leader Abdullah Öcalan, who is held in İmralı Island Prison and has not been heard from for 43 months, held a meeting with the Council of Europe Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE).

İbrahim Bilmez, one of the lawyers of Asrın Law Office, spoke to the Mesopotamia Agency (MA) about the meeting.

İbrahim Bilmez said that during the meeting with the CPT they emphasised that ‘the isolation has reached an unbearable point’. They told the CPT delegation that the isolation system in İmralı is unique in the world.

Lawyer Bilmez said, “We also asked the CPT to explain the report they have prepared. Even if the report is published, it is outdated since it has been 2 years since it was published and, for this reason, we requested them to make a visit to İmralı again.”

Bilmez said, “The CPT delegation stated that they have been closely interested in İmralı since 1999 and in constant dialogue with the Turkish government to overcome the isolation. They stated that they could not release the report without Turkey's approval, but that they were endeavouring to obtain approval.”

Bilmez stated that they had also held a series of diplomatic talks with the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and informed them about the isolation and aggravated life imprisonment.