ISTANBUL (AA) - The lawyers of Abdullah Ocalan, the head of the terrorist organization PKK, said on Wednesday that they wouldn't meet their client as long as the legal arrangements stemming from the new TCK (Turkish penal code) are in force.
Speaking in a news conference, Ocalan's lawyers Dogan Erbas and Firat Aydinkaya asserted that the public debate that started in Turkey, following the decision of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) about Ocalan, had overshadowed the legal process regarding Ocalan case.
Lawyers said that their first meeting (after ECHR decision) with Ocalan was recorded by an official from the Justice Ministry, under an order by Bursa execution judge's office. ''We would like to announce that we won't meet again our client under actual circumstances since those circumstances hinders our defense mission,'' Erbas affirmed.
Erbas stressed that their client would not accept a new trial under the existing conditions, adding ''Ocalan says that he would accept a new trial only if the conditions for a fair and impartial trial can be assured; and he intends to apply to the Council of Europe (COE) Committee of Ministers to this end.''
Upon a question, Ocalan's lawyers claimed that the existing legal arrangements (i.e. the new TCK) totally blocked the retrial of Ocalan.
2005-06-08