ISTANBUL - İbrahim Bilmez, one of the attorneys of PKK Leader Abdullah Öcalan, stated that a crime was being committed in Imrali, and pointed out that if the initiatives people take against the bans grow, they will yield results.

 

For more than a year, no news has been heard from Ömer Hayri Konar, Hamili Yıldırım and Veysi Aktaş, who have been held in the same prison as PKK Leader Abdullah Öcalan, who has been held under severe isolation conditions in İmralı F Type High Security Prison for 23 years. Öcalan and the other prisoners held in İmralı are banned from being visited by their lawyers and families.The applications made to the relevant institutions are rejected on the grounds of disciplinary penalties. İbrahim Bilmez, one of the lawyers of Asrın Law Office, evaluated the prevention family and lawyer visits and their initiatives against it.

 

UNLAWFULNESS IN IMRALI 

 

Stating that the situation in Imrali has exceeded isolation, Attorney Bilmez pointed out that due to the fact that the judiciary did not act independently, they could not get results from their applications and initiatives against this situation. Bilmez said, "The law has hit rock bottom in Imrali," and added that the unlawfulness has spread throughout the country. Bilmez said, “Lawlessness does not remain specific to one place. Lawlessness spreads throughout the country when a rupture occurs in the system. In fact, this is what is happening in Turkey. All the injustices and unlawfulness that have been experienced are all related to them. They have almost turned the law into a ball of thread in Imrali and they expect us to unentangle it. They are trying to distract us with this."

 

'A CRIME IS BEING COMMITTED'

 

Stating that they applied to the Court of Execution on March 24 for the last time against ban on visits, Bilmez reminded that this application was also rejected on the grounds of disciplinary punishment. Noting that Öcalan and other detainees did not object to the decisions made, Bilmez said, "They no longer believe in the law. That is, they know how politically centralized these practices are. Stating that they are trying to cover up the bans, Bilmez said, "However, these practices are not legal or legitimate. We have applied to the Court of Execution again. We told them that the disciplinary punishment exceeded its period and asked them why don't they implement the law and allow visits. They replied the other day and told us that there is another disciplinary penalty given to our clients in February. But the law is clear. You can not implement this disciplinary punishment for more than 3 months. This is an arbitrary practice. What is being done is a crime. The Constitution, the ECHR, the relevant legislation.. All ground rules are ignored."

 

'THEY ARE NOT SOLVING PROBLEMS, THEY ARE CREATING THEM'

 

Stating that the Execution Judge acted contrary to its duty to solve the problems, Bilmez said: "It does not solve problems, it creates them. It acts as a mediator in the creation of the problem. What we can do is to object to the upper courts. We object to the High Criminal Court. The Constitutional Court rejects our application with a very short template decision. The Constitutional Court process begins. Unfortunately, the process at the Constitutional Court takes year. We have dozens of pending applications. When the decisions are made by the Constitutional Court, the ECHR process will begin. The issue spreads over time."

 

'CPT IS TURNING A BLIND EYE'

 

Sharing the fact that they are working with political parties and non-governmental organizations in the country to overcome this situation, Bilmez explained that they have made applications to relevant institutions such as the United Nations (UN) and the Council of Europe. Bilmez said, "Unfortunately, those institutions also condone Turkey's policy of spreading over time. If this situation continues to deteriorate, it means someone is turning a blind eye on it. There is no other explanation for it." Pointing to the violation report published after CPT's visit to İmralı, Bilmez said that it turned a blind eye to what happened in İmralı.  

 

'REMAINING SILENT AGAINST THIS MEANS IT WILL BE YOUR TURN SOON'

 

Bilmez continued as follows: "It is of particular importance that there is such a movement in the lawyer community. Because if our colleagues turn a blind eye to such unlawfulness, they will experience the same things this time. For example, the meetings of lawyers with their clients were privilaged and it could not have been observed. They made a regulation for Öcalan for his meetings with his lawyers to be listened to in 2004. Now all lawyer- client conversations are observed by the law enforcement. Therefore, it is important for people to see this and act accordingly."

 

Pointing out that their efforts against what happened in Imrali will achieve results, Bilmez said, "We will try to ensure that this unlawfulness is seen and heard by everyone. We believe that the initiatives will yield results. That's why we strive. The bigger these efforts are, the higher the probability of getting results."

 

 

MA / Ergin Çağlar