Lawyer Demir says aggravated life imprisonment has been turned into de facto death sentence

Lawyer Cemal Demir said that aggravated life imprisonment has been turned into a de facto death sentence in the person of Kurdish people's leader Abdullah Öcalan.

Lawyer Cemal Demir said that if the decision of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) regarding the violation of rights of Abdullah Öcalan is implemented, his release will come to the fore in a few years.

Speaking to ANF, Demir said that isolation is an unlawful method and added it amounts to torture and ill-treatment.

Stating that the aim of isolation is to totally sever Kurdish people's leader Abdullah Öcalan from the people because of his position within the Kurdish people and his role in the Middle East equation, lawyer Demir noted that the Imrali system was brutally implemented by killing national and universal law.

Stating that life imprisonment is against basic human rights, lawyer Demir said: “Although the aggravated life sentence has been enacted since 2005 and should not normally be applied to Abdullah Öcalan, it is applied to him by a special regulation, ignoring the basic principles of criminal law. Life imprisonment is seen as a form of capital punishment. The European Court of Human Rights put forward its judicial debate. It ruled that it violated the 'right to hope'. It has decided to make legal arrangements on this issue, but the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe neglects its responsibility in this matter. If this sentence is implemented, the release of Abdullah Öcalan and many other prisoners in similar situations will undoubtedly come to the fore in a few years.”