Ankara - A 15-year-old boy was sentenced on Wednesday to three years behind bars for throwing rocks at police during a November protest in support of imprisoned Kurdish separatist leader Abdullah Ocalan, the Anadolu news agency reported.

Prosecutors alleged that the child, identified only as Y G, had taken part in a pro-Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) demonstration in the southern Turkey city of Adana and that police cameras had filmed the boy throwing rocks.

The youth denied the allegations, telling the court in Adana that he was on his way to his uncle's house when he saw the protest and ran away when police started firing plastic bullets at the crowd.

Almost 20 juveniles under the age of 18 have been jailed for between three and 10 years in the past two months for taking part in pro-PKK protests in Adana and Gaziantep in October and November last year.

The protests took place after allegations were made that Ocalan was being mistreated at the Marmara Sea island prison of Imrali, where he is the sole inmate. (dpa)