Turkeys New ECHR Bill: 33,000 in a Week

The judgments were issued for cases brought before the ECHR under article 10 (freedom of expression) and article 6 (right to a fair hearing) with the case of former Democracy Party members of parliament Mahmut Alinak, Sirri Sakik and Ahmet Turk ending in their favor and amounting to a compensation of 26,500 euro in total.

The defendants were sentenced to imprisonment in Turkey for speeches they made requesting "an end to policies of violence".

Turkey is to pay 3,500 euro for violations in the case of Gunluk Emek (Daily Labour) newspaper editor Ahmet Ergin who was tried and sentenced by the Chief of General Staff Military Tribunal for a news report titled "Sending the soldiers off and social memory" according to a second ECHR judgment.

Author Erdogan Aydin Tatlav of the book "The Reality of Islam" who was sentenced in Turkey for "insulting Islam" has also be awarded 3,052 euro for violation of his rights.

DEP deputies rights violated

The ECHR judgment related to three DEP deputies after the fourth complainant Sedat Yurttas withdrew his application related to prison terms passed against them by a State Security Court in Turkey following the closure of the party.

The ECHR decision noted that the three applicants, Mahmut Alinak, Sirri Sakik and Ahmet Turk had been elected to Parliament in the 1991 elections running under the Social Democrat Populist Party (SHP) ticket and their parliamentary immunities were lifted in March 1994 while they were then formally DEP MPs.

The immunity lifting was followed in June 1994 with the closure of DEP as a political party on grounds of activities against the indivisible integrity of the state. On December 8, 1994, the Ankara State Security Court sentenced Alinak and Sakik to 3 years imprisonment, Turk to 15 and Yurttas to 7.5 years hail for "carrying out separatist activities" through the speeches they made as parliamentarians at parliament.

After the deputies appealed the verdict, they were retried and on April 11, 1996, sentenced to 14 months imprisonment.

DGM trial against fair and impartial hearing

The ECHR judgment stressed that while freedom of expression was important for every individual, it had an additional value for DEP deputies who were elected representatives of the people wanting the Kurdish identity in Turkey to be recognized and appealing an end to violence.

The Court ruled that deputies representing their electors were voicing their concerns and protecting their interests, saying that restricting their freedom of expression had no basis and criticizing their being sentenced to imprisonment for speeches they made which neither encouraged violence or uprising nor called on for an armed resistance.

The ECHR agreed that some of the DEP speeches occasionally contained strong remarks but said they were void of reflecting any enmity. It also said their trial at a State Security Court was in contrast with a fair and impartial hearing.

Ergin wins claim against military trial

Gunluk Emek (Daily Labor) newspaper editor Ahmet Ergin who was tried and sentenced by the Chief of General Staff Military Tribunal for a news report titled "Sending the soldiers off and social memory" is also to receive 3,500 euro in compensation according to a second ECHR judgment passed this week.

The offending article had referred to ceremonies where families sent off their young ones to compulsory military service often unaware of the dangers and tragedies that they would face.

The Chief of General Staff Military Tribunal had put Ergin on trial for "discouraging people from military service" and on October 20, 1998 found him guilty. Though Ergin was sentenced to two months imprisonment, his jail term was deferred.

Ergin appealed against the military verdict but it was ratified by a higher court on February 10, 1999, after which he applied to the ECHR.

The Court this week referred to its judgment on the DEP deputies and concluded that Ergin had neither encouraged violence nor made an appeal for armed resistance. The ECHR decided that Ergin's punishment fulfilled no social need and that under article 10 his freedom of expression had been violated.

It said that Ergin should not have been put on trial in a military court but pointed out that Turkey was the only country where in its constitution the trial of civilians by military tribunals at peace time was allowed.

Tatlav also wins ECHR case

On May 2, the ECHR sentenced Turkey to pay 3,052 euro in the case of Author Erdogan Aydin Tatlav of the book "The Reality of Islam" who had been sentenced in Turkey for "insulting Islam".

The book that had its reprint in 1996 and has sold over 16,500 had earned Tatlav a prison sentence and fine on January 19, 1998.

Tatlav's main theme in the book was that the concept of "God's will" legitimized social inequalities but the ECHR ruled that the book did not insult believers and did not target holy symbols in its criticism of the socioeconomic effects of religion. (EO/KO/II/YE)