Two detained as police attack civil disobedience action for Öcalan at ECtHR

The action led by Kurdish and internationalist young women was organized as part of the 'Em Dibêjin NA' (We say NO) campaign.

Kurdish and internationalist young women have organized a civil disobedience action at the European Court of Human Rights building in Strasbourg, France to protest the isolation imposed of jailed Kurdish Leader Abdullah Öcalan.

The action led by Kurdish and internationalist young women was organized as part of the 'Em Dibêjin NA' (We say NO) campaign.

A group of young women went up to the roof of the ECtHR building and put up a banner with the inscription "We say no to isolation" and another with Öcalan's portrait. They told ANF that the action is taking place on the occasion of the campaign "Em dibêjin NA! We say no!".

Another group demonstrating at the entrance of the building were attacked by the police. After the crowd was driven away from the scene, police then targeted the demonstrators inside the building.

While the activists continued their action, at least two of them have been taken into custody.

The Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan has been held as a political hostage on the Turkish prison island of Imrali since he was abducted from Kenya in 1999 in violation of international law - most of the time in total isolation.

For almost two years now, Öcalan has again been completely cut off from his legal counsel. He has been subjected to a detention regime aimed at physical and physical destruction. The last meeting on Imrali took place on August 7, 2019 - for the first time after eight years of no contact.