Ocalan Said To Be Healthy

After visiting Kurdish rebel Abdullah Ocalan in prison, the captured leader's attorneys said Friday he appeared to be in good health.

Ocalan is being held on a prison island on charges of treason.

"He appeared to be all right, but he complained about problems in his eyes and ears," lawyer Ahmet Zeki Okcuoglu told a news conference.

Okcuoglu also voiced concern about the possible psychological effects on Ocalan from being held in isolation under constant questioning by his captors.

"He could experience a deep psychological collapse if he is always in the presence of interrogators from the General Staff and is unable to have contact with the outside world," he said.

Okcuoglu demanded Turkish authorities allow the team of lawyers normal access to their client, that Ocalan be transferred to a regular prison and the media be prevented from making statements that prejudice the result of the trial. He also asked that protection be provided for the defense lawyers and their families, who had received death threats.

European countries have called for Ocalan to receive a fair trial, while human rights groups have expressed concern over Turkey's justice system.

Ocalan is held responsible by Turkey for the deaths of more than 29,000 people in 14 years of conflict between the state and his Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which is fighting for self-rule in Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast.