5 December 2009 / TODAY’S ZAMAN, İSTANBUL
Amid demonstrations across the country over the prison conditions of outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Öcalan, who is currently in a prison on İmralı Island, the Justice Ministry yesterday released photos of the jail in a bid to show the prison’s compliance with international standards.
Supporters of the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP) and the PKK have been holding protests in several cities over Öcalan’s relocation to a new cell after new inmates were transferred to the prison last month. During a meeting with his lawyers on Nov. 25, Öcalan complained that his new accommodation is harmful to his health and that he feels like he is living at the bottom of a well.
The Justice Ministry noted that conditions on İmralı comply with the United Nations’ Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners and European Prison Rules.  The Ministry of Justice released photos of the İmralı prison cell where Abdullah Öcalan, the leader of outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, is being held. The aim of the move is to show that his prison complies with international standards and to allay concerns that Öcalan is facing difficult conditions on İmralı. |
The ministry said while Öcalan’s old cell was 11.98 square meters, his new cell is 11.81 square meters. Dismissing Öcalan’s lawyers’ claim that he is kept in a six-square-meter cell one high window which cannot be looked through unassisted, the ministry said the window in Öcalan’s cell was one meter above the ground and a standard window size. Indicating that inmates in İmralı meet their lawyers face-to-face in a separate room, the ministry said there was a 32-square-meter sports room, 20-square-meter hobby room and 20-square-meter classroom in the prison complex, just as in all F-type prisons. Some analysts say that the DTP wants to ensure its closure through violent protests, as the Constitutional Court has decided to hear a closure case filed against the DTP in 2007 this month. Ensuring its closure will make the DTP appear victimized in the eyes of the public and increase Kurdish support for it, experts say.
Photos:
 The Ministry of Justice released photos of the İmralı prison cell where Abdullah Öcalan, the leader of outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, is being held. The aim of the move is to show that his prison complies with international standards and to allay concerns that Öcalan is facing difficult conditions on İmralı.  The Ministry of Justice released photos of the İmralı prison cell where Abdullah Öcalan, the leader of outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, is being held. The aim of the move is to show that his prison complies with international standards and to allay concerns that Öcalan is facing difficult conditions on İmralı.  The Ministry of Justice released photos of the İmralı prison cell where Abdullah Öcalan, the leader of outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, is being held. The aim of the move is to show that his prison complies with international standards and to allay concerns that Öcalan is facing difficult conditions on İmralı.  The Ministry of Justice released photos of the İmralı prison cell where Abdullah Öcalan, the leader of outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, is being held. The aim of the move is to show that his prison complies with international standards and to allay concerns that Öcalan is facing difficult conditions on İmralı. |
