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Ocalan 'seriously ill'
 (AKI) - Imprisoned Kurdish militant leader Abdullah Ocalan is "seriously ill", according to a spokesman for his separatist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). Baryar Kabar said the founder of the PKK "has been struck by a skin disease". In an interview with Adnkronos International (AKI), Kabar said that Ocalan "is subjected to severe psychological pressure and is not allowed access to any news from the outside world except for a small radio with a single station and is allowed to read only one newspaper a month, from which the most important news is removed." Ocalan has been the sole inmate on the prison island of Imrali since his capture in 1999. At the weekend police clashed with thousands of Kurdish protesters in southeastern Turkey who demonstrated to mark the tenth anniversary of the capture of the separatist leader. Eighty-six people were reportedly arrested and at least eight protesters and 17 police officers were hurt when protests turned violent. Protesters in Diyarbakir, the region's largest city, threw rocks at armoured police vehicles and police used tear gas and water cannon to disperse a crowd of about 2,500 people that gathered in front of the headquarters of the Democratic Society Party (DTP), the only legal Kurdish political grouping. Baryar Kabar spoke to AKI about Ocalan's prison term. He said in the past ten years, the Kurdish leader had been in solitary confinement 11 times for periods of 10 to 15 days. "This most severe treatment is not in line with the law or international practices," he said. On the tenth anniversary of Ocalan's detention, Kabar said "we are telling the world that we will continue our fight until the party leader is freed". "His freedom would mean freedom for all the Kurdish people," Kabar said. "The arrest of Ocalan was the result of a huge international plot with the purpose of carrying out mass extermination. But the Kurdish people have become aware of his enemies' objectives and very decisive about pursuing its international fight until the achievement of its legitimate national rights," he said. Clashes were also reported in Istanbul and the southern port city of Mersin at the weekend. Ocalan, who founded the separatist PKK in 1978, was arrested on 15 February 1999, while fleeing the Greek Embassy in Nairobi after a year-long manhunt. He was sentenced to death later that year for treason and his sentence was commuted to life in prison in 2002. Posted by: Fred 2009-02-17 |
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