ŞIRNEX - Stating that there was no response to their İmralı application to the Ministry of Justice, Şirnex Bar Association President Rojhat Dilsiz said that the state has to comply with the laws like citizens.

 

There has been no news from PKK Leader Abdullah Öcalan, who has been held in isolation in İmralı Type F High Security Prison for 24 years, for the last 30 months. Applications from lawyers and their families to meet with Abdullah Öcalan and other prisoners in prison, Ömer Hayri Konar, Hamili Yıldırım and Veysi Aktaş, are rejected on the grounds of "disciplinary punishment". Şirnex Bar Association President Rojhat Dilsiz evaluated the absolute isolation.

 

MINISTRY OF JUSTICE DID NOT RESPOND

 

Stating that the Abdullah Öcalan issue is too important to be sacrificed to politics, Dilsiz said: “Giving a convict his rights protected by both national and international laws is a requirement of democratic law. However, there has been an isolation against Öcalan for 30 months. To indicate that this is not legal, many bar associations and lawyers individually applied to both the Ministry of Justice and the Union of Turkish Bar Associations (TBB) for the state to comply with its own laws; however, so far the Ministry of Justice has not responded to our applications."

 

'BOLD STEPS MUST BE TAKEN'

 

Drawing attention that bold steps must be taken in such processes, Dilsiz said: “The situation where every regulation is locked is the isolation of Öcalan. Therefore, you cannot contribute to the solution of the problem by deepening the lawlessness with periodic disciplinary punishments. Our criticism of every execution regulation is a violation of the Constitution's principle of equality. It is an irony that the regulations do not include political prisoners. A regulation is being made regarding the prisoners, but we, as lawyers, do not know what its content is and it is not shared with us. There are always conversations behind closed doors and decisions are made behind those doors. I don't think there will be any progress in solving the deepening problems unless we are brave on this issue."

 

'THE STATE ALSO HAS TO COMPLY WITH ITS LAWS'

 

Stating that the Imrali isolation should be viewed from a legal perspective, Dilsiz continued: "If the person there, from whom no news has been heard for 30 months, was not Öcalan but a different person, it would be necessary to react in the same way. We have previously applied to the Ministry of Justice regarding this situation, and our applications will continue because the Constitution and laws are a contract between the state and the citizen. Although the citizen has to comply with this agreement and may face criminal sanctions if the state does not comply the law in İmrali, the state also has to comply with the laws it imposes itself in İmralı. Unless the state does this, it loses its essence of being a state of law. This gradually erodes and therefore enters a chaotic process. In this sense, it is the duty of non-governmental organizations to retreat to the rule of law. The controllers of this are primarily bar associations and non-governmental organizations.”

 

MA / Zeynep Durgut - Mehmet Güleş