Deported US American Journalist Hess Applies to ECHR

Journalist Jake Hess has being detained in the Diyarbakır Police Directorate Foreigners Branch for seven days now. The US American citizen was arrested on 11 August in Diyarbakır in south-eastern Turkey and is facing deportation from Turkey.

bianet talked to Hess' lawyer Serkan Akbaş: "We are currently waiting for the procedures to finish. The Ministry of the Interior decided to expel [Hess] and will send a flight ticket once the allowance has been granted to apply the decision", Akbaş said.

Entry ban imposed

Akbaş explained that Hess is going to be deported because of "constituting a threat to the national security". The lawyer continued:

"It is put forward that my client's articles have put the Turkish state into a difficult position. Additionally, the KCK file was used to base Hess' deportation  on legal grounds. However, in the file it is claimed that Hess worked as an interpreter, so this is not a serious accusation. Furthermore, Hess is banned from re-entering Turkey but this cannot be applied to everybody".

The KCK is the Democratic Confederation of Kurdistan, the umbrella organisation that includes the separatist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). Both organizations are considered illegal by Turkey and a number of other countries such as the USA and the EU.

COX case is a precedent for us

Akbaş informed bianet that they are going to open a lawsuit against the Ministry of the Interior at the Administrative Court on the grounds of the decision for Hess' deportation. "Turkey created a privilege in terms of 'public security' both in domestic law and international agreements. Foreigners who are perceived as a threat to the public order may be expelled from the country. Hence, we are not too optimistic about the case we are going to open against the Ministry at the Administrative Court".

Akbaş indicated that they are going to apply to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in case domestic remedies should be exhausted.

"The ECHR previously convicted Turkey for having expelled USA citizen Norma Jeanne Cox because she had distributed leaflets. This case constitutes a precedent for us. We have the base for achieving a satisfying result".

Having worked as a lecturer at Istanbul University and the Middle East Technical University in Ankara during the 1980s, Cox was arrested in 1989 while distributing leaflets protesting the film "The Last Temptation of Christ", and subsequently expelled and banned from re-entering the country. In May 2010, the ECHR sentenced Turkey to a monetary fine of € 12,000 in compensation.

Akbaş added that the decision about Hess' deportation and ban from re-entering the country has been sent to the boarder posts by the Ministry of the Interior via the Governor. (SP/VK)