Kurdish activists launched a civil disobedience action in front of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) building in Strasbourg, France.

The group protests the silence of European institutions concerning the isolation imposed on Kurdish People's Leader Abdullah Öcalan.

Displaying pictures of the Kurdish leader and PKK flags, the activists chanted slogans demanding freedom for Öcalan.

“Leader Apo (Abdullah Öcalan) has been held captive in the Imrali torture system for 22 years. This captivity concerns all Kurdish people. The European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) ignores the inhumane treatment in Imrali. With this action, we, the Kurdish youth, state that Europe should give up its dirty policy towards Leader Apo”, the activists said in a statement regarding the action.

French police attacked the group with pepper gas and batons at around 13:40 local time and detained at least two of the demonstrators.

The activists responded to the crackdown with slogans such as “Long Live Leader Öcalan”.