Lawyer Lotta Lagnander, Swedish Left Party candidate for the European Parliament, visited the Gävleborg People's Assembly. Lagnander had visited Istanbul, Ankara and Diyarbakır before, to learn about the isolation of Abdullah Öcalan in İmralı Island Prison and the unlawful treatment of political prisoners in Turkey.

“I became acquainted with the Kurdish question through my Kurdish clients who had problems with Swedish intelligence and I realised that the Kurdish question and the isolation of Abdullah Öcalan were not ordinary events,” said Lagnander.

Lagnander stated that she had been part of a delegation that was going to conduct inspections in Turkey and Kurdistan on the advice of a friend, and that the delegation included lawyers and MPs from eight countries, “We met with bar associations, associations, Mothers for Peace and individuals and submitted the results of the meetings to a conference in Istanbul with a report. However, shortly afterwards, the Maraş earthquake occurred, which delayed and disrupted our plans for the next trip. Due to the earthquake, we formed two delegations, one of which visited the earthquake zone and the other visited organisations in Turkey. However, we clearly saw how the situation has worsened and how the isolation of Abdullah Öcalan is not limited to him but affects all prisoners.’

Lawyer Lotta Lagnander added: ‘A report we have written has been sent to lawyers and politicians in different countries for signatures and when the signatures are finalised, the report will be sent to the European Union and the Turkish administration.’