NEWS CENTER - The 39th group takes over the hunger strike launched against the aggravated isolation imposed on PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan and the increasing rights violations in prisons.

 

The 39th group takes over the indefinite-alternating hunger strike launched by Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK) prisoners on November 27, 2020, demanding the end of the aggravated isolation on PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan and an end to the increasing violations of rights in prisons. The action continues on its 191st day.

 

Speaking about the petition "We will not be a party to this crime", which was initiated to enable PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan to meet with his lawyers and signed by 768 attorneys, Association of Lawyers for Freedom (ÖHD) Co-Chair İlknur Alcan said: “Book restrictions first started in İmralı and then spread to all prisons. Today, various restrictions are being made on the grounds of the pandemics; All of them were applied in İmralı. The isolation conditions also determine the political and democratic atmosphere in the country. The deeper the isolation, the more difficult it is for the country to democratize. We can accept the isolation on İmralı as a policy criterion in the country, the isolation on the island needs to be lifted for the country to become more democratic.”