A second trial of former Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan and 100 of his aides was adjourned Monday because the court had not received a written statement of defense from the main defendant.
"My right to visit Imrali," the prison where Ocalan is the sole inmate, "was refused for meteorological reasons, so I could not register the defense of my client and could not attend the hearing," Ocalan's lawyer Hatice Korkut said.
Korkut said the hearing was adjourned to an as-yet undisclosed date.
The former leader of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, PKK, has been detained in Imrali Prison, on the Marmara Sea, since he was condemned to death for treason and separatism in June 1999.
His execution was suspended in January 2000 pending a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights.
However the case against Ocalan continues to be pursued, and he faces a catalogue of other charges. An Ankara court is also seeking a second death penalty against the former rebel leader -- ISTANBUL (AFP)
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