This morning, the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg published its decision to go ahead with a full hearing of the main issues in the seminal case of Abdullah Öcalan v. Turkey.

Press Release: 15th December 2000

The key issues raised by the Öcalan case that have been accepted by the Court include:

• The legality of his death penalty sentence;


• The lawfulness of Öcalan's abduction from Kenya in February 1999;
  
• The fairness of the legal proceedings against Öcalan in Turkey since February 1999 including restrictions on his access to legal advice and to documents in the case; and


• Öcalan's solitary confinement on Imrali Island for the past 22 months.

The case is sure to raise new legal arguments and involves Articles 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 13, 14, 18 and 34 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The complaints regarding all of these have been declared admissible.

"The Court's historic decision today means that it will rightly go on to assess the strengths of the arguments posed in this crucial case," commented Kerim Yildiz, Executive Director of the Kurdish Human Rights Project, "The Court's judgment in Abdullah Öcalan v. Turkey will have ramifications across the world."

NOTES FOR EDITORS:

1. Öcalan's legal team includes, from Britain, Sir Sydney Kentridge QC (formerly Nelson Mandela's lawyer), Mark Muller, Tim Otty, Gareth Peirce (known for her miscarriage of justice cases), Louis Charalambous, Kerim Yildiz and Philip Leach and from Turkey, Hasip Kaplan, Irfan Dundar and Dogan Erbas. Because of its vast experience in the European Court over the last decade, the Kurdish Human Rights Project (KHRP) was asked to assist in the case.

2. Abdullah Öcalan was detained in Kenya in February 1999 and handed over to Turkish security officials. In June 1999 he was tried in the Ankara State Security Court No. 2, and convicted of treason and separatism under the Turkish Penal Code and sentenced to the death penalty. The decision was upheld by the Supreme Court of Appeal Chamber No. 9 on the 25th November 1999. The first application to the European Court of Human Rights was lodged on 16th February 1999 following Öcalan's arrest, and a further application was subsequently made with regard to the death penalty.

3. The European Court Human Rights has passed twenty-five successful judgments in cases brought by the Kurdish Human Rights Project, the majority of which have centred on the right to life (Article 2), prohibition of torture (Article 3), right to a fair trial (Article 6), right to an effective remedy (Article 13) and freedom of expression (Article 10).