Riot police smash Kurdish court protest

Police stormed Istanbul’s main court house today and captured about two dozen Kurds, who had raided the building and taken hostages to press demands for the release of imprisoned Kurdish rebel chief Abdullah Ocalan.

Police fired tear gas canisters before entering the court house, CNN-Turk television said.

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.

In October, Ocalan said he was refusing to meet with his lawyers or family until he was given a health examination by independent doctors and greater access to his lawyers.

Ocalan, who is the sole prisoner held on the prison island of Imrali off Istanbul, is also demanding daily access to all newspapers and magazines published in Turkey, to be able to send and receive letters, and to make limited telephone calls.

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.

His rebel group and supporters have recently launched a campaign for his release.

The Kurdish protesters reportedly took one judge and seven to eight lawyers and court workers hostage, CNN-Turk reported.

They chanted “Freedom to Ocalan” amd unfurled banners from a third-floor window of the court house reading: “Democratic solution to Kurdish problem,” and “Shut down Imrali prison.”

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

It was not clear if the protesters were armed.