NEWS CENTER - Families of PKK Leader Abdullah Öcalan and Ömer Hayri Konar, Hamili Yıldırım and Veysi Aktaş held in İmralı Prison applied to the prosecutor's office and the prison directorate for a visit.

Mehmet Öcalan, brother of PKK Leader Abdullah Öcalan who has no news from for 21 months, and family members of other prisoners in İmralı, Ömer Hayri Konar's brother Ali Konar, Hamili Yıldırım's brother Polat Yıldırım and Veysi Aktaş's sister Melihe Çetin applied to the Bursa Chief Public Prosecutor's Office on Monday, requesting a visit.

The families also applied to the Imrali F Type High Security Closed Penal Institution Directorate for a meeting through the Bursa Chief Public Prosecutor's Office.

TWO NEW DISCIPLINARY PUNISHMENTS

The lawyers applied for an "urgent meeting" with the Bursa Penal Execution Judge on November 22, as no positive or negative response was given to their twice-weekly applications to meet with their client Öcalan. Responding to the application, the judgeship rejected the application, stating that there were two new disciplinary punishments on Öcalan banning the family visits. As an obstacle to the meeting, the judgeship cited the decision that a 6-month ban on meeting Öcalan on October 12 and a 3-month ban on family visits on 18 August was imposed. However, the lawyers were not informed about the decisions cited as reasons for the ban.

QUESTIONABLE CPT VISIT

While the situation of not hearing from Abdullah Öcalan continued, the Council of Europe Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) announced on October 3 regarding the September 20-29 visit to Turkey, that Imrali Type F High Security Prison was among the institutions it visited. Regarding the visit, Therese Rytter, Head of the CPT's İmralı Delegation and 2nd Vice-President of the CPT on October 4, said: "I can say that we visited all the prisoners in Turkey, but I cannot explain our findings. These will be announced when the report is made public.”

PHONE CALL WAS INTERRUPTED

Öcalan, who has been held under severe isolation conditions in İmralı High Security F-Type Closed Prison for 22 years, made a phone call yesterday with his brother Mehmet Öcalan after the last phone call on April 27, 2020. However, Mehmet Öcalan had announced that the phone call was interrupted.

NEW BAN IMPOSED ON ÖCALAN

After the disciplinary punishment given on September 9 ended on December 9, the lawyers made 3 separate applications to both the prison and the prosecutor's office on 15 and December 23, 2022 and January 3, 2023. Bursa Execution Judge informed lawyers on January 4 that Abdullah Öcalan and other prisoners were given a new 3-month family visit ban. While the reason for the ban was explained as "disciplinary punishment", no information was shared about why the punishment was given and the date of punishment.