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European Court Hears Ocalan Appeal Against Turkey
The European Court of Human Rights heard Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan's appeal against the death penalty on November 21 as some 15,000 Kurds demonstrated and 4,000 Turks counter-demonstrated outside.
Ocalan's appeal against the sentence imposed by a Turkish court could add to anger already simmering in Turkey at conditions laid down for European Union membership.
Police said that some 15,000 Kurds had demonstrated in the eastern French city in support of Ocalan, while 4,000 Turks staged a counter demonstration.
Ocalan, leader of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), was abducted by Turkish agents in Kenya two years ago and flown to Turkey for a trial at which he was condemned to hang for killings during the PKK's 16-year fight for Kurdish self rule.
His lawyers allege that Turkey violated 21 clauses of the European Convention on Human Rights, starting with Ocalan's abduction, but said the main issue to be addressed by the panel of seven judges was the death sentence.
The sole question posed today is whether there is a place for the death penalty in a civilized and democratic Europe, Sydney Kentridge told the court on Ocalan's behalf.
Turkey Proclaims Ocalan's Guilt Turkey has never ratified the part of European Human Rights Convention that outlaws the death penalty. Lawyers for Ankara told the court that there was no doubt about Ocalan's guilt.
Turkey has not carried out a death sentence since 1984 and has agreed not to execute Ocalan while the case is in progress.
The European Court is expected to rule in days on the case's admissibility. If it is allowed to proceed, a decision is likely to take several months, and either side can appeal.
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