Court rejects jailed PKK leader’s demand for retrial

ANKARA – Anadolu Agency – 3.8.2013 – The jailed PKK leader’s lawyers had filed a new request for a retrial after the reform bill known as the ‘fourth judicial package’ was approved by the Parliament in April.

The jailed PKK leader’s lawyers had filed a new request for a retrial after the reform bill known as the ‘fourth judicial package’ was approved by the Parliament in April. An Ankara court today rejected a demand from Abdullah Öcalan, the jailed leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), requesting a retrial and a suspension of his prison sentence.

Öcalan’s lawyers had filed a new request for a retrial after the reform bill known as the “fourth judicial package” was approved by the Parliament in April. A clause in the bill enabled the retrial of some convicts whose rights originating from the European Convention of Human Rights had been violated according to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). L awyers argued that Öcalan’s conviction was breaching ECHR law and gave a legitimate right to apply for a retrial under the amendment. However the judge panel rejected unanimously the lawyers’ request, Anadolu agency reported.