Öcalan may reappear in front of judge
Güncelleme Tarihi:
Hurriyet Daily News
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Kasım 28, 2008 00:00
ANKARA - A new draft law could allow for the terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, leader Abdullah Öcalan to reappear in court.
If the Justice Ministry’s draft law is passed by Parliament, convicts who receive a disciplinary penalty may object and his objections may be heard before the court.
Öcalan has had two cell confinement penalties since he was captured and brought to İmralı prison in 1999. Local courts will be able to release an accused person considering the time spent in detention and the sentence the accused is likely to receive, even if his file is at the supreme court of appeals.
The new law will allow for the release of 400 detained people. The ministry is to also introduce a home detention penalty for convicts who received less than three years imprisonment. The condition of voluntarism will be abolished for converting the prison sentence of less than a year to community service. The prison sentences will be decided by specialized judges.
Öcalan, who is imprisoned on the İmralı Island in the Marmara Sea, first received a death penalty that was later commuted to life imprisonment.
He is the sole inmate on the island, which has resulted in criticisms over his psychological condition due to lack of social interaction. The government is planning to incarcerate six other inmates on the island in order to address the criticism arising out of his isolation.
The PKK has been fighting for the independence in the southeast of the country since the early 1980s and the resulting clashes have claimed more than 30,000 lives.The European Union and the United States both have recognized the group as a terrorist organization.
Öcalan has had two cell confinement penalties since he was captured and brought to İmralı prison in 1999. Local courts will be able to release an accused person considering the time spent in detention and the sentence the accused is likely to receive, even if his file is at the supreme court of appeals.
The new law will allow for the release of 400 detained people. The ministry is to also introduce a home detention penalty for convicts who received less than three years imprisonment. The condition of voluntarism will be abolished for converting the prison sentence of less than a year to community service. The prison sentences will be decided by specialized judges.
Öcalan, who is imprisoned on the İmralı Island in the Marmara Sea, first received a death penalty that was later commuted to life imprisonment.
He is the sole inmate on the island, which has resulted in criticisms over his psychological condition due to lack of social interaction. The government is planning to incarcerate six other inmates on the island in order to address the criticism arising out of his isolation.
The PKK has been fighting for the independence in the southeast of the country since the early 1980s and the resulting clashes have claimed more than 30,000 lives.The European Union and the United States both have recognized the group as a terrorist organization.