A spirited demonstration of 200 people marched to state parliament on March 9 to protest the poisoning of Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan, who is imprisoned in Turkey. Waving Kurdish and Australian flags and holding pictures of Ocalan, the founder of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), the protesters chanted "Freedom for Ocalan, long live Kurdistan" and called for an end to the war in Kurdistan.
The protest was called at very short notice by the Kurdish community after evidence was presented by Ocalan's lawyers that he is being poisoned with heavy metal compounds. The lawyers declared that hair samples examined by independent doctors indicate "chronic intoxication", which will eventually kill Ocalan.
A member of the Kurdish committee in Victoria, read out a statement highlighting the danger to Ocalan's life and calling on the Australian government to pressure Turkey to allow an independent international delegation of experts to conduct a thorough examination of Ocalan's health.
Marcus Greville from the Socialist Alliance, who was invited to give greetings, called for Ocalan's immediate release.
In an extraordinary act of rendition, Ocalan was abducted and handed over to Turkish authorities in 1999. He was sentenced to life imprisonment and has been kept in solitary confinement for over seven years, the sole prisoner on Turkey's Imrali Island. Ocalan's sentence is being appealed in the European Court of Human Rights.
The PKK has substantial support from Kurdish diaspora globally. Last year, more than 3.2 million Kurds signed a petition declaring Ocalan their national leader. The petition was presented to the United Nations and the European Union.
In 2005, the Australia government listed the PKK as a terrorist organisation.