Court Rejects Retrial Request For Öcalan

Ankara 11th High Criminal Court rejected Öcalan’s defense attorney’s request for the retrial of their client - PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan. 

The penal of Ankara 11th High Criminal Court unanimously rejected the retrial request that was grounded on the suspension of Temporary Article 2 of Court Trials Law 6459 by Constitutional Court due to the fact that it conflicted Constitution Article 152/1 On July 26, Öcalan’s advocates Rezan Sarıca, Cengiz Yürekli and Mazlum Dinç submitted the request for Öcalan’s retrial to Ankara 11th High Criminal Court - the judicial authority that ordered life sentence for Öcalan. 

Request reasons 

Some of the highlights [not the official English translation] from the request statement included:

“We request a) the approval of Mr. Öcalan’s retrial - a situation that has been supported by a European Court of Human Rights verdict which stated that the trial of Öcalan has violated the European Convention of Human Rights and based on a discriminatory process; b) the reordering or suspension of sentence according to Penal Trials Law (Ceza Muhakemeleri Kanunu) Article 312; c) the suspension of Temporary Article 2 of Court Trials Law 6459 by Constitutional Court due to the fact that it conflicted Constitution Article 152/1. (YY/BM)

* Click here to read the original article in Turkish.