European court rejects jailed Kurdish leader torture claim

ANKARA, Turkey – The European Court of Human Rights has rejected a complaint alleging that imprisoned Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan had been subjected to ill-treatment.

Ocalan’s lawyers complained that he had been tortured and threatened by guards on the prison-island of Imrali near Istanbul on Oct 7, 2008.

But the court said Thursday it had found “no arguable claim” that Ocalan had been subjected to ill-treatment. It argued that doctors who examined him found to signs of physical injury or mental distress and that Ocalan himself had not filed a complaint.

Ocalan, 69, who led the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, has been serving a life sentence on Imrali since 1999.

Tens of thousands have died since his group took up arms in 1984.