Judges taken hostage in Kurd court protest

About two dozen Kurds raided Istanbul’s main court house today, calling for the release of imprisoned Kurdish rebel chief Abdullah Ocalan.

The Kurdish protesters reportedly took at least two judges hostage, private CNN-Turk television reported.

Riot police surrounded the court house, which is located in Istanbul’s historical Sultanahmet Square.

Ocalan, who was captured in 1999, was sentenced to death for waging a guerrilla war for autonomy in southeastern Turkey which claimed 37,000 lives. His sentence was later commuted to life in prison.

Ocalan is still the president of the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, which changed its name to the Kurdistan People’s Congress, or KGK, on Saturday.

“Freedom to Ocalan,” the protesters chanted.

The protesters unfurled banners from a third-floor window of the court house reading: “Democratic solution to Kurdish problem,” and “Shut down Imrali prison,” referring to the prison island of Imrali off Istanbul, where Ocalan is the sole prisoner.