15-Year-Old Detained for 14 Months - No End in Sight

After 14 months in detention, 15-year-old Ö.S. appeared at court for the first time on Tuesday (6 September). He was taken into police custody in Erzurum (eastern Anatolia) on 20 July 2010. The juvenile was then arrested on charges of "membership of an illegal organization" because he allegedly placed a bomb in a rubbish container close to the local building of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).

Ö.S. was incarcerated in five different prisons within 14 months and mainly kept in solitary confinement. Now the juvenile court decided to continue his detention and set the next hearing to 29 September.

"New judge does not know the file"

Ö.S.'s lawyer Müşir Deliduman talked to bianet about the case. He submitted a seven-page petition to the Juvenile Court Judgeship on Monday (5 September) to request his client's release pending trial. Deliduman said that the petition was accepted by the court judge.

However, the following morning Deliduman learned that the judge he had talked to was temporarily appointed to a different district by the Presidency of the Justice Commission. The lawyer criticized that a judge who did not know anything about the case file presided the hearing instead of his well-informed predecessor.

Deliduman indicated that the new judge had no opportunity to study the 600 to 700-page case file. He claimed a lack of evidence for the alleged guilt of Ö.S. Moreover, he emphasized that suspect Rıdvan S. who was arrested together with Ö.S. had stated that his client had not been involved at all. Nevertheless, the judge decided to prolong Ö.S.'s detention on the grounds that "evidence has not been collected", Deliduman deplored.

"Presidency of the Erzurum Justice Commission responsible"

"The one and only reason for this decision is the temporary appointment of the Juvenile Court judge to a different place by the Presidency of the Erzurum Justice Commission. Thus, a judge who had no information at all about the matter held the hearing", Deliduman concluded. In his opinion, the Presidency of the Erzurum Justice Commission is responsible for the decision.

Deliduman said that the situation raised doubts about the Presidency of the Erzurum Justice Commission. He criticized that the file was hastily transferred to a judge who was not aware of the facts. The severe harm done to the juvenile was not considered and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child which was also signed by Turkey was violated, he stated. "The Law on Children's Rights was breached as well as the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and Articles 5 and 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights related to the right to liberty and security and to a fair trial respectively". (EKN/VK)